iforni 


AN  OUTLINE  HISTORY 

OF 

CHINA 


ity 


HERBERT-  H  •  GOWEN 


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','  -.  ~ -:'-'••   .-  -  ' 


THE  BOY  CONFUCIUS 


AN    OUTLINE   HISTORY 
OF 

CHINA 


PART  I 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO 

THE  MANCHU  CONQUEST 

A.  D.   1644 


BY 

HERBERT  H.  GOWEN,  D.D.,  F.R.G.S 

Lecturer  on  Oriental  History  at  the  University 
of  Washington 


BOSTON 

SHERMAN,  FRENCH  &  COMPANY 
1913 


COPYRIGHT,  1913 
SHERMAN,  FRENCH  6*  COMPANY 


"735 


PREFACE 

The  writer  claims  for  this  little  book  nothing 
more  than  its  title  implies.  It  is,  in  the  strictest 
sense  of  the  word,  an  outline  sketch  of  the  pre- 
Manchu  period  of  Chinese  history  which,  it  is 
hoped,  the  student  will  fill  in  from  a  wider  read- 
ing. Some  of  this  is  suggested  in  an  Appendix. 
The  excuse  for  presenting  it  to  a  public  already 
deluged  with  works  on  China  consists  in  two  facts. 
The  first  is  the  importance  of  the  subject.  If  in 
Juvenal's  time  there  were  those  who  were  inter- 
ested in  knowing 

"Quid   Seres,  quid   Thraces   agant/' 

much  more  is  it  the  case  to-day.  "China's  New 
Day"  makes  it  more  than  ever  necessary  to  know 
something  of  her  wonderful  past,  since  it  is  out 
of  that  past  that  the  present  has,  in  the  main, 
sprung. 

Secondly,  the  early  history  of  China  has  been 
seriously  neglected  by  English  and  American 
writers.  Chinese  history  has  almost  invariably 
been  treated  from  the  point  of  view  of  Foreign 
Relations,  with  the  result  that  a  few  pages  have 
sufficed  for  the  four  millenniums  prior  to  the 
Manchu  occupation,  while  hundreds  of  pages  have 


PREFACE 

been  used  to  discuss  (from  a  foreign  point  of 
view)  the  events  of  the  past  few  decades.  The 
consequence  is  that,  to  the  best  of  the  writer's 
knowledge,  there  is  no  work  in  English  giving  the 
student  such  a  sketch  of  pre-Manchu  times  as 
will  enable  him  to  grasp  the  singular  continuity 
of  Chinese  political  and  social  life.  It  is  too 
much  for  the  writer  to  suppose  that  he  has  com- 
pletely filled  the  gap,  but  it  is  hoped  that  he 
has  made  some  such  contribution  as  will  bring 
home  to  many  in  our  schools  and  colleges  some 
part  of  the  interest  which  lies  behind  the  veil. 
It  is  impossible  here  to  mention  all  the  sources 
to  which  this  book  is  indebted.  Most  of  them 
will  appear  from  the  notes  and  from  the  at- 
tached bibliography.  Special  acknowledgment, 
however,  should  be  made  to  the  writings  of 
Professor  Hirth  of  Columbia,  G.  Pauthier,  Abel 
Remusat,  Chavannes,  Legge,  Williams,  Giles, 
Mayers,  Douglas  and  D.  C.  Boulger. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER                                                                                               PAGE 
I     INTRODUCTORY 1 

II  PRELIMINARIES 8 

III  "IN  THE  BEGINNING" 17 

IV  THE  FIVE  RULERS 24 

V  THE  HIA  DYNASTY 33 

VI     THE  SHANG  DYNASTY 37 

VII    THE  CHOU  DYNASTY 43 

VIII    THE   CHOU  DYNASTY    (CONCLUDED)        .     .     58 

IX    THE  TSIN  DYNASTY 78 

X    THE  HAN    DYNASTY 89 

XI     FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY  ...  106 
XII    THE  TANG  DYNASTY 117 

XIII  THE  FIVE   LITTLE   DYNASTIES      ...  135 

XIV  THE  SUNG   DYNASTY 139 

XV    THE  YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY     .     .  155 

XVI    THE  MING  DYNASTY 168 

APPENDIX  A 184 

APPENDIX  B 193 

INDEX    .  .  203 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  BOY  CONFUCIUS Frontis. 

Facing  Page 

Fu-Hsi 26 

LAO-TSZE 64 

KUBLAI  KHAN  GOING  TO  BATTLE     .      .      .   160 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTORY 

A  certain  soldier,  says  a  tale  of  the  T*ang 
dynasty,  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  his  potations 
beneath  the  branches  of  a  spreading  tree.  One 
day  he  fell  asleep  and  dreamed  that  fairies  came 
to  him  and  carried  him  away  to  the  country  of 
their  king.  Here  he  was  royally  received,  taken 
from  one  scene  of  regal  splendor  to  another,  and 
at  length  appointed  by  the  king  governor  of  a 
country  where  he  lived  for  many  years.  How- 
ever, when  the  dreamer  roused  himself  from  sleep 
he  found  all  these  experiences  had  taken  but  a  mo- 
ment of  time.  In  making  the  effort  to  compress 
within  a  few  pages  the  complex  record  of  the  more 
than  four  millenniums  of  Chinese  history,  it  is  im- 
possible not  to  envy  the  above-mentioned  soldier 
his  magic  potion.  How  otherwise  can  we,  within 
our  inevitable  limitations,  grasp  the  significance 
of  the  age-long  story? 

Is  it  not  strange,  in  these  days  when  the  lines 
of  demarcation  between  continents  and  peoples 
are  being  abolished  as  never  since  the  days  when 
Alexander  the  Great  made  Europe  and  Asia  one, 
that  so  far  as  the  science  of  history  goes,  the 
average  student  limits  his  knowledge  of  the  past 


to  the  classical  story  of  Greece  and  Rome  and 
to  the  comparatively  recent  annals  of  Europe 
and  America? 

Is  it  not  strange  that  that  long  unbroken  high- 
way of  human  life  which  stretches  right  back 
without  a  chasm  from  our  own  time  to  the  ages  of 
fable  and  myth,  the  continuous  tale  to  which  the 
most  ancient  annals  of  Greece  and  Rome  seem 
modern  by  the  contrast,  the  history  which  has 
its  surprises  such  as  bear  witness  to  the  vitality 
of  youth  in  the  present,  should  be  to  so  large  an 
extent  an  untrodden  road  by  the  ordinary  stu- 
dent in  our  schools  and  universities? 

The  excuse  of  inaccessibility  and  remoteness 
will  no  longer  hold  for  those  who  have  treated  a 
great  volume  of  the  deepest  human  interest  as 
though  it  were  a  book  sealed  with  seven  seals. 

Indeed,  we  are  disposed  to  ask  whether  such 
an  excuse  could  ever  have  applied,  except  during 
the  narrow  century  or  two  when  the  Ottoman 
conquests  interposed  an  unnatural  barrier  across 
the  road  to  Cathay,  which  proved  more  difficult 
to  surmount  than  the  desert  and  the  seas.  The 
nations  of  olden  times  were  nowise  disposed  to 
despise  knowledge  of  the  people  and  arts  of 
Serica.  Victorious  Greek  art  followed  easily 
along  the  open  road  made  by  the  military  genius 
of  Alexander  right  to  the  very  bounds  of  the  East- 
ern waste.  The  banners  of  the  Caesars  encoun- 
tered the  banners  of  the  great  Han  generals 
on  the  very  shores  of  the  Caspian,  marking  one 


INTRODUCTORY          S 

frontier  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Yellow  Sea. 
Traders  went  with  comparative  ease,  bearing  silk 
and  iron,  to  the  Roman  markets,  along  the  great 
routes  which  have  been  re-opened  with  difficulty 
by  some  of  our  modern  travelers.  Every  reli- 
gion known  to  Western  Asia,  Buddhist,  Magian, 
Christian,  Manichean,  Muhamadan,  found  in  the 
old  Chinese  capitals  a  refuge  and  frequently  a 
welcome.  Not  even  the  great  Mongol  conquests, 
which  annihilated  whole  nations  and  sowed  the 
sites  of  populous  cities  with  salt,  blocked  the 
routes.  Franciscans  like  Carpini  and  de  Rubruk 
made  their  way  to  the  camps  of  the  great  Khan, 
and  the  Polos  were  not  alone  as  travelers  to  dare 
the  perils  of  the  way  to  Cambaluc.  One  would 
think  that  the  fascinating  record  of  the  great 
Venetian  would  by  itself  have  sufficed  to  drive  the 
enchanted  reader  from  page  to  page  of  the  won- 
derful story  in  which  Marco  played  a  part  for 
some  twenty-four  years. 

Even  when  the  Turks  succeeded  in  blocking  for 
Europe  the  three  land  routes  along  which  mis- 
sionaries, merchants  and  soldiers  had  marched 
from  time  immemorial,  the  glamour  of  Cathay  re- 
mained. The  new  era  of  geographical  research 
which  was  at  this  time  inaugurated  had  the  re-dis- 
covery of  China  as  its  objective  point.  To  this 
end  toiled  and  meditated  that  noble  ascetic  of 
science,  Prince  Henry  of  Portugal,  from  his 
lonely  Pharos  sending  out  expedition  after  ex- 
pedition to  find  the  limits  of  the  African  coast. 


4,         OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

To  this  end  Diaz  rounded  the  Cape  of  Storms, 
Vasco  da  Gama  made  a  theme  for  the  Lusiads, 
and  Magellan  sailed  round  the  Horn  into  the 
Pacific.  To  this  end  Columbus  started  on  the 
journey  which  led  to  the  discovery  of  America, 
and  all  the  great  English  seamen  strove  for  the 
victory,  east  or  west,  north-east  or  north-west, 
over  the  obstacles  which  lay  between  themselves 
and  the  golden  lands  of  the  far  eastern  seas. 

Surely  now  that  the  goal  has  again  been 
reached  and  the  way  thither  made  familiar  to  the 
feet  of  man,  after  all  the  labors  of  seamen  and 
merchants,  after  all  the  martyrdoms  of  mission- 
aries and  explorers,  after  all  the  battles  of  di- 
plomacy and  of  arms,  we  must  not  be  content  to 
know  only  the  China  of  the  treaty  ports,  or  to 
know  it  only  as  a  land  upon  which  some  stronger 
nation  enforces  an  occasional  claim  at  the  can- 
non's mouth,  or  as  one  from  the  exploitation  of 
which  the  commerce  of  Europe  and  America  mul- 
tiplies its  gain. 

What  of  China  for  her  own  sake? 

What  of  her  Art? — that  wonderful  art  un- 
veiled so  recently  in  the  Cave  of  the  Thousand 
Buddhas,  the  art  that  assimilated  so  much  of  what 
was  best  in  Greece,  and  India,  and  Persia,  and 
became  the  teacher  of  Korea  and  Japan. 

What  of  her  Literature? — the  Poetry,  the 
Drama,  the  Novels,  the  Philosophy,  above  all  the 
History,  vast  beyond  human  power  to  compute 
in  quantity,  and  not  without  its  quality,  though 


INTRODUCTORY          5 

written  down  in  a  language  which  to  the  Western 
world  seems  clumsy  and  uncouth. 

What  of  her  Government? — the  wonderful  in- 
strument, so  stable  and  enduring  beyond  the 
power  of  revolutions  to  shock  or  shake,  yet  chang- 
ing with  the  changing  times,  running  the  whole 
gamut  of  experiment,  democratic  at  heart  and 
most  daring  in  its  trust  of  the  people,  yet  ever 
imperialistic  in  foreign  policy,  a  government 
which,  as  an  authority  has  said,  seems  to  have  as 
its  fundamental  principle  of  administration,  "a 
sort  of  mutual  toleration  between  nominal  rulers 
and  ruled,  supported  chiefly  by  that  all-pervading 
factor,  vis  inertia,"  a  Government  finally,  which 
is  now  manifesting  itself  in  the  New  Republic 
which  faces  the  stress  and  storm  of  international 
life. 

Lastly,  but  by  no  means  least,  what  of  its 
People?  What  of  that  marvelous  people  which 
had  already  fashioned  a  polity  through  the  ex- 
perience of  generations,  if  we  may  trust  the  an- 
cient traditions,  when  Hammurabi  was  making 
laws  for  the  infant  state  of  Babylon;  which  was 
producing  its  greatest  literature  when  Romulus 
and  Remus  were  founding  the  city  of  Rome; 
which  was  sending  forth  learned  monks  to  collect 
the  literary  treasures  of  India  when  Picts  and 
Britons  were  fighting  for  mastery  and  Saxon 
pirates  were  harrying  the  coasts  which  Rome  had 
left  unguarded;  which  was  receiving  Christian 
missionaries  from  Persia  and  Syria  at  the  very 


6         OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

time  when  Ethelbert  and  his  fellow  princes  were 
listening  to  the  news  brought  by  Augustine  and 
Paulinus ;  which  was  making  the  most  advanced 
experiments  in  socialism  when  the  Norman  Wil- 
liam was  asserting  his  claim  to  the  throne  of 
Harold ;  the  people  whose  latest  dynasty  was  well- 
nigh  a  century  and  a  half  old  when  the  American 
Republic  was  born? 

What  of  China's  individual  men  and  women? — 
the  heroes  in  war,  if  unwilling  warriors,  martyrs 
to  unflinching  loyalty,  examples  of  filial  piety, 
Confucian  moralists,  Taoist  mystics,  and  Budd- 
hist pilgrims,  statesmen,  philosophers,  and  politi- 
cal economists.  What  of  the  one  hundred  vol- 
umes of  the  biographies  of  famous  worthies,  of 
the  twenty  volumes  of  the  illustrious  names  of  the 
Manchu  era,  of  even  those  twenty-five  hundred 
enrolled  in  the  pages  of  Giles*  Biographical  Dic- 
tionary? 

Is  all  this  solely  for  the  delectation  of  Sinolo- 
gists and  antiquaries?  Young  men  and  women 
of  America  may  find  here  surely  material  not  with- 
out its  use  in  the  cosmopolitan  life  of  to-day. 
Dr.  Stein  tells  us  he  found  a  wooden  hammer  made 
for  the  purpose  of  pitching  tents  a  century  or 
two  before  the  Christian  era,  which  proved  so 
useful  that  he  could  not  resist  allowing  his  men 
to  use  it  for  its  original  purpose  for  the  rest  of 
the  journey.  Even  so  the  long  buried  past  of 
China  may  be  turned  to  good  account  in  these 
modern  days. 


INTRODUCTORY          7 

To  know  China  and  something  of  its  four 
thousand  years  of  continuous  history  is  to  have 
some  touch  with  the  world  movements  as  old  as 
Babylon  and  as  young  as  the  day's  newspaper, 
to  have  a  background  on  which  the  history  of  our 
own  race  and  of  our  own  land  becomes  all  the 
more  significant  and  prophetic. 

With  intelligence  and  with  sympathy  we  can 
watch  the  new  come  forth  from  the  chrysalis  of 
the  old  and  even  as  the  most  sincere  lover  of  the 
modern  needs  to  know  the  political  and  social  con- 
ditions out  of  which  the  present  springs,  so  must 
the  interested  observer  of  the  fortunes  of  the 
New  China  learn  that  the  Old  China  was  by  no 
means  comatose  or  moribund  but  full  of  sig- 
nificance and  latent  power. 

With  intelligence  and  sympathy  such  as  this, 
there  will  be  no  hesitation  in  using  for  the  new 
China  the  words  which  Longfellow  wrote  for  the 
encouragement  of  the  new  America. 

"In  spite  of  rock  and  tempest's  roar, 
In  spite  of  false  lights  on  the  shore, 
Sail  on  nor  fear  to  breast  the  sea ! 
Our  hearts,  our  hopes,  our  prayers,  our  tears, 
Our  faith  triumphant  o'er  our  fears, 
Are  all  with  thee, — are  all  with  thee." 


CHAPTER  II 
PRELIMINARIES 

The  Name — geographical  features — the  Eight- 
een Provinces — people — language. 

NAME.  The  name,  China,  is  of  somewhat  un- 
certain origin.  It  is  generally  derived  from  that 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Tsin,  the  state  which  produced 
the  famous  Tsin  dynasty  (B.  C.  255-202)  under 
which  the  confederation  of  Chinese  states  was 
transformed  into  the  Empire.  The  name, 
Tchina,  was  carried,  it  is  said,  by  Malay  traders, 
to  India  and  other  Western  lands.  It  is  quite  in 
accord  with  Chinese  custom  to  speak  of  the  coun- 
try after  the  dynastic  name,  as  during  the  Han 
dynasty  the  Chinese  described  themselves 
"Han  tsz" — "sons  of  Han,"  and  during  the 
T'ang  period  as  "Tang  jin" — "Men  of  T'ang." 
But  the  word,  "Tchina"  also  occurs  in  the  Hindu 
"Code  of  Manu,"  and  the  phrase,  "those  from  the 
land  of  Sinim"  in  Isaiah  xlix,  12,  has  been  gen- 
erally thought  to  refer  to  China.  Both  these 
passages  are,  of  course,  much  older  than  the 
Tsin  dynasty.  In  neither  case,  however,  is  the 
reference  certain  and  in  the  former  the  probabil- 
ities are  all  the  other  way.  Moreover,  the  state 
of  Tsin,  which  is  much  older  than  the  dynasty  of 


PRELIMINARIES  9 

the  name,  may  have  easily  transmitted  its  name 
through  contiguous  countries  to  the  western  na- 
tions. 

In  the  classical  writings  of  Europe  (e.g.  the 
works  of  Ptolemy  and  Ammianus  Marcellinus) 
China  is  called  Serica,  its  capital  Sera,  and  its 
people  Seres.  This  is  an  allusion  to  the  produc- 
tion, famous  from  very  early  times,  of  silk  (Mon- 
golian, sirik;  Manchu,  sirghe).  The  Mediaeval 
name  of  Cathay  (e.g.  in  Marco  Polo)  was  applied 
by  the  peoples  of  Eastern  Europe  from  their 
knowledge  of  the  Khitans,  a  branch  of  the  Tatar 
family  which  was  only  too  well  known  in  the  llth 
and  12th  centuries.  The  name  Cathay  is  still 
preserved  in  Russia. 

In  China  itself  the  country,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  frequently  named  after  the  reigning  dynasty, 
as,  for  instance,  during  Han  times  "the  land  of 
Han."  A  very  common  name  is  that  of  "the 
Middle  Kingdom,"  in  which  the  adjective  refers 
to  the  fact  that  in  the  olden  times  the  Empire 
consisted  of  a  series  of  concentric  squares,  the 
royal  domain  (i.e.  the  present  province  of  Ho- 
nan)  in  the  center,  and  the  realms  of  nobles,  peo- 
ple, feudatory  states,  barbarians  forming  outer 
territories.  This  name,  "Chung-Kwoh,"  since 
the  proclamation  of  the  Republic  is  being  super- 
seded by  Chung  Hwa,  "central  flower." 

Other  names  in  common  use  include  Tien-ha — 
"under  heaven,"  i.e.  "everything  beneath  the  sky," 
and  Sze-hai — "the  four  seas  (copied  by  the  Jap- 


anese  in  the  name  given  to  their  own  land  Shi- 
kai). 

THE  COUNTRY.  The  Chinese  Realm  includes 
the  five  great  divisions,  as  follows :  1st,  China 
proper  (i.e.  the  Eighteen  Provinces)  ;  2nd,  Man- 
churia ;  3rd,  Mongolia ;  4th,  Chinese  Turkestan ; 
5th,  Tibet.  Until  recently  there  were  also  in- 
cluded the  island  of  Tai-wan  or  Formosa,  ceded 
to  Japan  in  1895,  and  the  peninsula  of  Cho-sen, 
or  Korea,  formally  annexed  to  Japan  in  1910. 
Over  much  of  the  territories  of  Mongolia  l  and 
Manchuria  the  authority  of  China  is  at  present 
extremely  nominal,  but  in  Tibet  her  suzerainty 
has  in  recent  years  been  asserted  with  success. 
The  student  who  would  make  himself  at  all  fa- 
miliar with  the  history  of  China  is  urged  at  the 
outset  to  spend  a  few  hours  over  the  best  ob- 
tainable map.2  It  will  assist  the  memory  to  un- 
derstand the  meaning  of  a  few  geographical 
terms  which  occur  frequently  in  the  names  of 
places.  The  following  will  be  found  especially 
useful : 

Peh,  north,  as  in  P^-king  (north  capital). 

Nan,  south,  as  in  Nan-king  (south  capital). 

Tung,  east,  as  in  Sh&n-tung  (east  of  the  moun- 
tains). 

Si,  west,  as  in  Shan-si  (west  of  the  mountains). 

Shan,  mountain,  as  in  Shan-iung  and  Shan-si. 

Hu,  lake,  as  in  ffw-peh  and  Hu-nan. 

Ho,  Kiang  and  Ch'uen,  as  in  Hwang-ho,  Yang- 
tsze-ldang  and  Sze-cTiuen,  are  all  names  for 


PRELIMINARIES  11 

rivers     of     different     degrees     of     navigability. 

China  proper  lies  mainly  in  the  basins  of  three 
great  river  systems  flowing  from  west  to  east. 
These  are  the  Hwang-ho,  or  Yellow  River,  known 
as  "China's  Sorrow"  on  account  of  the  terrible 
annual  loss  of  life  and  property  from  the  floods ; 
the  Yang-tsze-kiang,  or  Willow  River,  known  in 
its  upper  reaches  as  the  Kin-sha-kiang  (River 
of  the  Golden  Sands),  the  Tai  kiang  (Great 
River),  and  the  Chang  kiang  (Long  River)  ;  and 
the  Chu-kiang  (Pearl  River),  with  its  three 
branches  of  which  the  Si-kiang  (West  River) 
which  enters  the  sea  at  Canton  is  the  most  impor- 
tant. A  fourth  river  system  in  the  south-west 
flows  in  a  southerly  direction  and  includes  the  im- 
portant streams,  the  Salween,  the  Meikong,  and 
the  Sonka. 

The  names  and  situations  of  the  Eighteen 
Provinces  into  which  China  is  at  present  divided 
should  be  carefully  learned  before  proceeding  fur- 
ther. They  may  be  taken  in  the  following  order: 

1.  In  the  North,  Chih-li  ("Direct  Rule")  or 
Peh-Chih-li ; 

Shan-si  (West  of  the  Moun- 
tains) ; 

Shen-si   (Western  frontier)  ; 

Kan-suh  ("Voluntary  Rever- 
ence") a  name  made  from 
combining  the  first  syllables 
of  two  chief  towns. 


12       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

2.  In  the  East,     Shan-tun g  (East  of  the  Moun- 

tains) ; 

Kiang-su  (from  the  first  syl- 
lables of  Kiang-ning  and 
Su-chau)  ; 

Cheh-kiang  ("C  rooked 
River"); 

Fuh-kien  ("Happily  Estab- 
lished"). 

3.  In  the  South,    Kwang-tung  ("Broad  East")  ; 

Kwang-si    ("Broad    West"); 

4.  In  the  West,     Yun-nan  ("Cloudy  South"). 

Sze-ch'uen  ("Four  Streams"). 

5.  In  the  Center,  Ho-nan  (South  of  the  River)  ; 

Ngan-hwui  (or  An-hwui) 
from  combination  of  the 
first  syllables  of  Ngan-king 
and  Hwui-chau)  ; 

Kiang-si  (West  of  the 
River)  ; 

Hu-peh  (North  of  the  Lake, 
i.e.  Tung-ting)  ; 

Hu-nan   (south  of  the  Lake)  ; 

Kwei-chau  ("Noble  Re- 
gion"). 

For    administrative     purposes     the    Eighteen 
Provinces   are   arranged   as   Eight    Viceroy  allies 


PRELIMINARIES  13 

and     Three    Governorships.     The    Viceroyalties 
are: — 

1.  Chih-li,  with  seat  of  Govern- 

ment  at   Tientsin ; 

2.  Min-che,   including   the   prov- 

inces of  Che-kiang  and  Fuh- 
kien; 

8.     Hu-kwang,    the    provinces    of 
Hu-peh  and  Hu-nan; 

4.      Yun-kwei,    the    provinces    of 
Yun-nan  and  Kwei-chau; 

6.     Sze-ch'uen; 

6.  The  Two  Kiang,  Kiang-si  and 

Kiang-ngan    (i.e.   Kiang-su 
and  Ngan-hwui)  ; 

7.  Shen-kan,    the    provinces    of 

Shen-si  and  Kan-suh; 

8.  The   Two   Kwang,   the   prov- 

inces   of   Kwang-tung   and 
Kwang-si. 

The  Governorships  are  those  of  Shan-tung, 
Shan-si  and  Ho-nan.  A  province  is  ordinarily 
divided  into  a  number  of  hien,  or  counties. 


14       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OP  CHINA 

Strictly  speaking  a  hien  consists  of  a  walled  city 
with  its  contiguous  rural  districts.  Two  or 
more  hien  are  grouped  as  a  fu,  or  first  class  city. 
Several  fu  make  a  tao,  of  which  the  chief  official 
is  the  familiar  tao-tai. 

THE  PEOPLE.  The  people  of  China  are  of 
Mongolian  stock,  but  in  the  course  of  ages  have 
undergone  considerable  racial  change.  Tibetans, 
Manchus,  Tatars,3  Japanese,  Shans,  etc.,  have 
all,  according  to  the  most  recent  authorities,4  con- 
tributed to  the  prevailing  Chinese  type. 

From  very  early  times  the  Chinese  have  been 
in  contact  (and  very  often  also  in  conflict)  with 
a  large  number  of  tribes  whom  we  may  describe 
as  aboriginal.  In  the  earliest  annals  of  China 
we  read  of  wars  against  the  Man  in  the  south, 
the  Yi  in  the  east,  the  Tih  in  the  north,  and  the 
Jung  in  the  west.  To-day,  especially  in  the 
south-west,  many  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  remain, 
known  as  Lolos,  Miaotsz,  etc. 

The  population  of  China  is  unknown  with  any 
approach  to  exactitude.  Estimates  run  all  the 
way  from  270  millions  to  420  millions.5  In  any 
case  it  is  the  most  populous  of  modern  states. 
Professor  Giles  says  that  "if  the  Chinese  people 
were  to  file  one  by  one  past  a  given  point,  the 
interesting  procession  would  never  come  to  an 
end.  Before  the  last  man  of  those  living  to-day 
had  gone  by,  another  and  a  new  generation  would 
have  grown  up,  and  so  on  for  ever  and  ever." 

The  language  6  of  the  people,  while  capable  of 


PRELIMINARIES  15 

being  expressed  in  one  common  written  form,  the 
Wen-li,  has  in  speech  great  dialectical  variety. 
The  dialects,  of  which  there  are  said  to  be  as 
many  as  three  hundred  and  sixty,  are  in  some 
cases  so  unlike  as  to  constitute  practically  sep- 
arate languages.  Of  these  the  Cantonese,  in  all 
probability,  comes  nearest  to  the  primitive  Chi- 
nese, while  Pekingese  (frequently  miscalled 
Mandarin)  has  suffered  the  most  from  phonetic 
decay.  The  latter,  however,  has  most  present- 
day  importance  as  the  language  of  diplomacy  and 
official  life. 

The  social  life  of  the  Chinese  may  be  studied 
in  detail  in  a  large  number  of  reliable  and  inter- 
esting works.7 


NOTES 

1.  Immediately  after  the  Revolution  (1911)  Mon- 
golia asserted   its   independence  and  elected   an   ec- 
clesiastical ruler. 

2.  In  addition   to  studying  the  map  the  student 
may  read  with  profit  Dr.   S.   Wells   Williams'   "The 
Middle      Kingdom/'      I      1-257;      Capt.      Brinkley's 
"China,"    I    1-36.     For    special    portions    there    are 
numerous  travel  books,  e.g.  Mr.  A.  Little's  "Through 
the   Yang-tsze    Gorges."     The   Travels   of  the   Abbe 
Hue  are  in  all  respects  delightful. 

3.  "Tatar,"  not  "Tartar."     The  latter  spelling  is 
due  to  the  historic  pun  of  S.  Louis  of  France,  who 
wished  to  consign  the  disturbers  of  the  world's  peace 
to   Tartarus.     His   reply   to  his   mother,   Blanche   of 
Castile,   was   as    follows:     "Mere,   si  les   Tatars   ar- 
rivent  nous  les  f'erons  retourner  au  Tartare  d'ou  ils 
viennent."      (Pauthier.) 

4.  See   Prof.    Hirth    in  Ency.   Brit,    (llth   Ed.) 
Art.  China. 

5.  The  most  recent  review  of  census   operations 
in  China  is  contained  in  a  paper  by  W.  W.  Rockhill. 
See    Royal     Geographical    Society's    Journal,    July, 
1912,  p.  69.     Mr.  Rockhill's  estimate  is  329,617,750, 
which    includes    2,000,000    for    Tibet    and    1,800,000 
for  Mongolia. 

6.  A   good   popular   account   of  the   language   is 
given   by   Sir   R.   K.   Douglas,   "The  Language   and 
Literature  of  China"   (1875).     An  interesting  analy- 
sis of  the  ideographs  is  contained  in  Frank  H.  Chal- 
f ant's  "Early  Chinese  Writing"   (1906). 

7.  Perhaps  the  best  of  these  is  the  Rev.  A.  H. 
Smith's  "Village  Life  in  China." 

16 


CHAPTER  III 
"IN  THE  BEGINNING" 

Origins — P'an-ku — the  Three  August  Periods — 
the  ten  periods  of  Ascent. 

OEIGINS.  The  subject  of  Chinese  origins  is, 
to  say  the  least,  a  thorny  one,  and  the  discussion 
of  it  in  any  detail  would  take  us  out  of  the  un- 
certain mists  of  legend  into  the  yet  more  uncer- 
tain mists  of  theory  and  conjecture.  Some  main- 
tain that  the  Chinese  entered  their  present  abode 
from  the  north-west;  others  that,  so  far  as  any- 
thing shows  to  the  contrary,  they  have  occupied 
their  present  abodes  from  time  immemorial.  The 
latest  authority  on  the  subject  writes:  "Whether 
the  Chinese  were  seated  in  their  later  homes  from 
time  immemorial,  as  their  own  historians  assume, 
or  whether  they  arrived  there  from  abroad,  as 
some  foreign  scholars  have  pretended,  cannot  be 
proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  historical  critics. 
Indeed,  anthropological  arguments  seem  to  con- 
tradict the  idea  of  any  connection  with  Baby- 
lonians, Egyptians,  Assyrians  or  Indians."  * 
Nevertheless,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  in  the  great  shifting  of  peoples  caused  by 
the  influx  of  Semitic  tribes  into  the  Euphrates 

Valley  about  B.  C.  4000,  the  Turanian  civiliza- 

17 


tion,  known  as  Sumerian,  may  have  so  far  pushed 
eastwards  as  to  have  influenced  the  peopling  of 
the  present  north-west  provinces  of  China.  It 
is  quite  possible  to  conceive  of  the  arrival  there 
of  whole  populations  who  had  acquired  the  old 
civilization,  or  of  the  transmission  of  the  ele- 
ments of  Sumerian  culture  through  individual 
fugitives.  At  any  rate,  the  distinguishing  traits 
of  the  Chinese,  their  industry,  their  agricultural 
skill,  their  arts,  methods  of  divination,  primitive 
ideographs,  and  general  peace-loving  disposition 
are  not  unlike  traits  which  reveal  themselves 
among  the  pre-Semitic  dwellers  in  the  Euphrates 
Valley.  A  careful  analysis  of  the  oldest  ideo- 
grams reveals  that  the  matriarchate  prevailed,2 
that  divination  by  means  of  the  tortoise  shell  was 
in  common  use,  that  the  male  child  was  valued  for 
his  capacity  for  field  work,  that  the  north  was 
regarded  as  the  land  upon  which  they  had  turned 
their  backs,  the  south  the  jungle  inhabited  by 
wild  beasts,  while  the  east  appeared  to  them  as 
a  forest  through  which  the  rising  sun  cast  its 
rays.  Many  signs  suggest  a  pastoral  stage. 
The  radical  for  "sheep"  (yong)  appears  in  the 
word  "beautiful"  which  is  literally  "big  sheep" ; 
"righteousness"  is  "sheep"  and  the  first  per- 
sonal pronoun;  "to  judge  rightly"  is  literally 
"to  talk  sheep."  The  symbol  for  "house,"  pre- 
served in  so  many  of  the  modern  characters,  per- 
petuates the  sloping  roof  of  the  old  Central 
Asian  tent  with  the  turned  up  edges  still  to  be 


"IN  THE  BEGINNING"  19 

seen  in  pagodas  and  temples.  The  pastoral 
stage  must  have  passed  quickly,  so  far  as  the 
Chinese  proper  are  concerned,  for  the  occupa- 
tion is  one  for  which  the  Chinese  of  many  genera- 
tions have  had  a  distinct  aversion. 

In  any  attempt  that  we  make  to  reproduce  in 
imagination  the  China  of  old  time  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  it  included  but  a  small  portion  of 
the  present  eighteen  provinces.  The  earliest 
China  probably  extended  little  beyond  the  pres- 
ent provinces  of  Shan-si,  Shen-si  and  Kan-suh. 
It  was  not  until  the  time  of  the  Tsin  Dynasty 
(B.  C.  250)  'that  the  whole  of  the  present  China 
came  under  one  government. 

P'AN-KU.  The  legendary  history  of  China  ex- 
tends over  many  millions  of  years.  In  the  chron- 
icles of  the  Han  Dynasty  it  is  said  that  "from 
the  creation  to  the  capture  of  the  lin  in  the  days 
of  Confucius  (B.  C.  481)  a  period  elapsed  of 
2,267,000  and  odd  years."  Of  course,  as  Mayers 
remarks,  "no  actual  weight  is  attached  even  by 
Chinese  writers  to  the  statements  handed  down 
by  the  fabulists  of  antiquity  regarding  prehis- 
toric epochs  and  dynastic  lines."  From  the  time 
of  the  first  man,  P'an-ku,  who  corresponds  more 
or  less  with  the  Indian  Manu  and  the  Persian 
Yima,  some  have  reckoned  as  many  as  ninety-six 
millions  of  years.  P'an  ku  separated  heaven  and 
earth,  as  was  done  in  the  Egyptian  story  of  Nut 
and  Keb.  A  philosopher  of  the  llth  Century 
describes  him  thus:  "P'an  ku  came  into  being 


in  the  great  Waste;  his  beginning  is  unknown. 
He  understood  the  ways  of  Heaven  and  Earth 
and  comprehended  the  permutations  of  the  two 
principles  of  Nature.  He  became  the  Chief  and 
Prince  of  the  Three  Powers.  Hereupon  develop- 
ment began  from  Chaos."  Dr.  Williams  says : 
"They  (the  Chinese  artists)  picture  him  holding 
a  chisel  and  mallet  in  his  hands,  splitting  and 
fashioning  vast  masses  of  granite  floating  con- 
fusedly in  space.  Behind  the  openings  his  power- 
ful hand  has  made  are  seen  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars,  monuments  of  his  stupendous  labors ;  at 
his  right  hand,  inseparable  companions  of  his 
toils,  but  whose  generation  is  left  in  obscurity, 
stand  the  dragon,  the  phoenix  and  the  tortoise, 
and  sometimes  the  unicorn,  divine  types  and  pro- 
genitors with  himself  of  the  animal  creation. 
His  efforts  were  continued  eighteen  thousand 
years,  and  by  small  degrees  he  and  his  work  in- 
creased; the  heavens  rose,  the  earth  spread  out 
and  thickened,  and  Pwan  ku  grew  in  stature,  six 
feet  away  every  day,  till,  his  labors  done,  he  died 
for  the  benefit  of  his  handiwork.  His  head  be- 
came mountains,  his  breath  wind  and  clouds,  and 
his  voice  thunder;  his  limbs  were  changed  into 
four  poles,  his  veins  into  rivers,  his  sinews  into 
the  undulations  of  the  earth's  surface,  and  his 
flesh  into  fields ;  his  beard,  like  Berenice's  hair, 
was  turned  into  stars,  his  skin  and  hair  into  herbs 
and  trees,  and  his  teeth,  bones  and  marrow  into 
metals,  rocks  and  precious  stones ;  his  dropping 


"IN  THE  BEGINNING"  21 

sweat  increased  to  rain,  and,  lastly,  the  insects 
which  stuck  to  his  body  were  transformed  into 
people."  3 

The  Three  August  Periods.  After  P'an  ku 
follow  three  periods  which  may  be  described  as 
follows : 

1.  The  Reign  of  Heaven,   during  which  the 
'heavens  were  actually  formed. 

2.  The   Reign   of   Earth,    during  which   the 
earth  received  its  shape. 

8.  The  Reign  of  Man,  during  which  men  and 
other  terrestrial  beings  took  their  proper  place 
in  the  universe. 

In  the  first  of  these  periods  twelve  brothers 
reigned  as  the  Tien  Wang  or  Heaven  Kings,  each 
for  a  period  of  18,000  years,  a  monstrous  brood 
with  the  body  of  serpents. 

In  the  second  period  reigned  the  eleven 
brothers,  known  as  the  Ti  Wang,  or  Earth  Kings, 
who  discovered  the  division  of  day  and  night,  and 
the  division  of  the  year  into  months  of  thirty 
days.  These  too  were  a  monstrous  progeny  made 
up  of  the  membra  disjecta  of  dragons,  serpents, 
horses  and  human  beings. 

In  the  third  period  reigned  the  nine  Jin  Wang, 
or  Man  Kings,  with  faces  of  men  and  bodies  of 
dragons  or  serpents.  They  divided  the  world 
into  nine  empires,  one  for  each  of  the  monstrous 
brothers. 

THE  TEN  PERIODS  OF  ASCENT.  Ten  periods 
follow,  or  nine,  if  we  regard  the  whole  of  the  pre- 


22       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

ceding  epoch  as  making  up  the  first,  during  which 
human  civilization  is  seen  on  the  ascent.  We  see 
men  gradually  ceasing  to  live  in  caves  of  the 
rocks,  or  nests  of  the  trees.  We  see  them  learn- 
ing to  clothe  themselves  in  the  skins  of  beasts. 
We  have  culture  myths,  moreover,  like  that  of  the 
Chinese  Prometheus,  Sui-jin,  who  discovered  the 
means  of  producing  fire,  by  watching  a  bird  peck- 
ing at  the  dry  branch  of  a  tree.  The  invention 
of  cooking  followed,  possibly  in  a  way  not  unlike 
that  described  by  Charles  Lamb  in  his  famous 
essay  on  roast  pig.  Then  came  other  arts  of 
life,  including  that  of  dancing  which,  we  are  told, 
came  into  vogue  not  as  an  amusement  but  as  an 
hygienic  exercise.  It  is  perhaps  permissible  to 
regard  this  statement  as  an  afterthought  on  the 
part  of  some  austere  philosopher  or  moralist. 
There  was  learned  withal  the  principle  which  has 
had  such  continuous  illustration  throughout  all 
Chinese  history,  namely,  "the  virtue  of  handing 
over  the  throne  to  a  successor,  which  stands  in 
relation  with  the  principles  of  heaven.'* 


NOTES 

1.  Encyclopedia  Brit,   (llth  Ed.)  Art.  China. 

2.  Cf.   also   description   of   Fu-hsi:     "Before   his 
time  the  people  were  like  unto  beasts,  clothing  them- 
selves in  skins,  and  feeding  themselves  on  raw  flesh, 
knowing     their     mothers     but     not     their     fathers." 
(Mayers,  "Chinese  Readers'  Manual,"  p.  48.) 

3.  S.  Wells  Williams,  "The  Middle  Kingdom,"  II 
139. 


23 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  FIVE  RULERS 

The  Five  Rulers — Fu-hsi — Shen-nung — 
Hwang-ti — Yao  and  Shun,  the  Model  Emperors. 

THE  FIVE  RULERS.  The  so-called  period  of 
the  Five  Rulers  may  be  regarded  as  marking  the 
transition  from  the  legendary  to  the  historical 
period.  There  are,  however,  several  dissimilar 
systems  of  chronology  for  it.  Some  Chinese  au- 
thorities reckon  from  the  age  of  the  Nest  Build- 
ers, others  from  various  others  of  those  legendary 
divisions  of  time  which  have  just  been  mentioned. 
The  best  method  of  reckoning,  in  all  probability, 
is  to  start  from  the  culture  hero,  Fu-hsi,  and  to 
make  up  the  five  by  the  inclusion  of  Fu-hsi's 
two  semi-mythical  successors,  Shen-nung  and 
Hwang-ti,  and  the  two  Emperors  par  excellence 
of  the  Shu-King,  Yao  and  Shun. 

FU-HSI.  The  greatest  of  all  the  traditional 
benefactors  of  the  legendary  era  of  Chinese  his- 
tory is  Fu-hsi,  who  by  many  is  reckoned  as  a 
genuine  historical  character.  Definite  statements 
are  made  about  him,  although  definiteness  of 
statement  is  by  no  means  invariably  a  proof  of 
historicity.  He  is  said  to  have  been  born,  mirac- 
ulously, near  Si-ngan-fu,  the  ancient  capital  of 
24 


THE  FIVE  RULERS  35 

China,  and  in  the  same  neighborhood,  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Shensi,  his  grave  is  still  pointed  out  and 
reverenced.  His  date  is  also  given  definitely 
enough  as  B.  C.  2852.  Yet  the  Chinese  accounts 
describe  him  as  possessing  a  body  which  termi- 
nated in  the  scaly  folds  of  a  serpent,  and  as  hav- 
ing six  dragons  (the  predecessors  of  the  Six 
Governing  Boards)  as  his  counsellors.  He  is  rep- 
resented in  art  with  the  horny  protuberances 
which  in  the  case  of  Oriental  law-givers  generally 
(even  in  the  case  of  Moses,  according  to  Michel- 
angelo) are  regarded  as  the  symbols  of  intellec- 
tual power.  Among  the  many  useful  inventions 
ascribed  to  Fu-hsi  by  a  grateful  posterity,  are 
the  following : 

1.  Marriage,    together    with    the    ceremonies 
with  which  marriage  was   contracted. 

2.  Musical  Instruments,  especially  the  thirty- 
five  stringed  lute. 

3.  The  Eight  Trigrams,1  and  arrangement  of 
the  whole  and  the  broken  line  in  a  series  of  eight 
permutations,  each  the  symbol  of  some  element 
in  nature,  on  which  was  based  in  later  times  the 
whole   complex  system   of  Chinese  divination   as 
contained  in  the  Yi-King. 

4.  Writing,  the  use  of  ideograms  instead  of 
the    more    primitive    system    of    knot    notation, 
known  in  ancient  Peru  as  quipu.     This  invention 
is,  however,  ascribed  also  to  Sui-jin  and  to  sev- 
eral others. 

5.  The    use    of    the    Six    Domestic    Animals, 


26       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

namely,  the  horse,  the  dog,  the  ox,  the  sheep,  the 
pig  and  the  fowl. 

6.  The  use  of  the  Mulberry  Leaf  for  the  feed- 
ing of  silk  worms. 

To  Fu-hsi  are  also  ascribed  the  weaving  of 
nets  and  snares  for  the  catching  of  fish,  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Supreme  Being,  whom  they  called 
Shong-ii,2  and  whatever  of  other  fruits  or  indica- 
tions of  civilization  there  were  for  which  the  Chi- 
nese desired  to  claim  a  very  remote  past. 

SHEN-NUNG.  B.  C.  2737-2705.  The  successor 
of  Fu-hsi,  who  selected  him  when  dying,  was  Shen- 
nung,  generally  known  as  the  "Divine  Husband- 
man." He  is  depicted  with  the  body  of  a  man 
and  the  head  of  an  ox,  doubtless  in  allusion  to 
his  interest  in  agriculture.  It  is  related  that  he 
was  the  son  of  a  princess,  and  was  miraculously 
born  near  the  river  Kiang.  "He  first  fashioned 
timber  into  ploughs,  and  taught  the  people  the 
art  of  husbandry.  He  discovered  the  curative 
virtues  of  plants,  and  instituted  the  practice  of 
holding  markets  for  the  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties." Moreover  he  contests  with  Fu-hsi  inter- 
est in  the  development  of  music,  as  the  traditional 
inventor  of  the  K'in,  or  five  stringed  lute. 

HWANG-TI.  B.  C.  2704-2595.  Hwang-ti,  the 
"Yellow  Emperor,"  succeeded  Shen-nung,  accord- 
ing to  one  story,  by  usurpation.  He  is  said  to 
have  introduced  the  use  of  wheeled  vehicles  and 
to  have  invented  ships,  armor  and  pottery.  In 
his  reign  a  manifestation  was  vouchsafed  of  the 


THE  FIVE  RULERS  27 

two  fabulous  beasts,  the  Griffin  and  the  Ki  Lin,  a 
highly  valued  indication  of  Heaven's  pleasure  in 
a  wise  and  benevolent  rule.  The  limits  of  China 
are  said  to  have  been  extended  during  this  reign 
eastwards  to  Shan-tung  and  southward  to  the 
Yang-tsze-kiang  valley.  Hwang-ti  died  at  the  age 
of  111  years.  The  Chinese  historian,  Sze  Ma 
Tsien,3  known  as  the  "Herodotus  of  China,"  com- 
mences his  history  at  this  point.  Some  modern 
writers,  without  very  tangible  evidence,  have  seen 
an  introduction  of  foreign  elements  of  civilization 
into  China  about  this  time.  The  mention  of  the 
hostile  Hun-yu,  generally  identified  with  the 
Hiung-nu,  the  ancestors  of  the  Huns,  suggests 
danger  and  pressure  from  the  tribes  to  the  north. 
Internally,  some  further  advances  are  described, 
including  the  use  of  milfoil  (Achillea  mille- 
folium)  for  purposes  of  divination.4  The  legend- 
ary minister,  Tsang  Kie,  who  is  spoken  of  as  the 
first  state  historian,  is  one  of  the  many  to  whom 
has  been  assigned  the  invention  of  writing. 
From  watching  the  impressions  made  by  the  foot- 
prints of  birds  he  is  said  to  have  developed  a 
system  of  ideographs  which  combined  the  use  of 
the  trigrams  of  Fu-hsi.  His  fellow  minister, 
Tsu-sung,  is  reported  to  have  achieved  much  the 
same  result  from  studying  the  constellations  in 
the  heavens.  An  important  place  also  in  the  tra- 
ditions of  this  reign  is  occupied  by  the  Emperor's 
wife,  Liu  Tsu,  better  known  as  "the  Lady  of  Si- 
ling,"  whose  skill  in  the  management  of  silk- 


28 

worms  endeared  her  to  posterity.  She  was  after- 
wards deified  as  Yuan-fi  and  is  worshiped  on  a 
certain  day  in  the  9th  month.  In  the  Wei-ki  she 
is  referred  to  in  the  following  verse: 

"Si-ling-shi,  the  Empress  of  Hwang-ti,  began  to  rear 

silkworms : 

At  this  period  Hwang-ti  invented  the  art  of  making 
clothing." 

The  immediate  successors  of  Hwang-ti  need  not 
be  mentioned.  Chinese  history,  but  for  names,  is 
a  blank  till  we  come  to  the  two  "Model  Emper- 
ors" of  the  Confucian  Classics,  Yao  and  Shun. 
With  the  description  of  these  reigns,  doubtless 
idealized  by  the  literati,  begins  the  record  of  the 
Shu-King  or  "Book  of  History." 

YAO.  B.  C.  2357-2258.  Yao,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  born  in  the  province  of  Ho-nan  and  to 
have  been  the  son  of  the  Emperor  Ti  K'u,  is  de- 
scribed as  being  "gifted  without  being  proud, 
and  exalted  without  being  insolent.  He  wore  a 
yellow  cap  and  a  plain  silk  dress.  He  drove  in  a 
red  car  drawn  by  a  white  horse."  Says  the  Shu- 
King,  "he  united  and  transformed  the  myriad 
states ;  and  so  the  black  haired  people 5  were 
transformed.  The  result  was  concord."  His  de- 
sire, during  the  long  reign  of  ninety-eight  (some 
make  it  only  seventy)  years,  for  the  welfare  of 
the  people  was  shown  by  the  placing  of  a  tablet 
outside  the  palace  on  which  anyone  might  write 


THE  FIVE  RULERS  29 

advice  with  regard  to  the  government.  A  drum 
near  by  enabled  the  man  with  a  grievance  to  make 
known  his  desires  to  the  king.6  The  most  strik- 
ing proof,  however,  of  Yao's  laudable  desire  to 
serve  the  people  is  afforded  through  the  account 
given  of  the  choice  of  Shun  as  his  successor  on 
the  throne.  For  some  years  the  ravages  of  a 
great  flood,  caused  probably,  as  to-day,  by  the 
overflowing  of  the  Hwang-ho,  had  defied  the  ut- 
most efforts  of  the  Minister  of  Works,  whose 
name  was  Kun.  At  length  the  monarch,  grieved 
by  the  growing  desolation  of  the  realm,  requested 
the  people  to  name  someone  who  would  make  him- 
self master  of  the  situation.  They  recommended 
"an  unmarried  man  of  the  common  people  named 
Shun."  Shun  was  found  to  be  the  son  of  a  blind 
man ;  "his  father  was  unprincipled,  his  mother  in- 
sincere, and  his  younger  brother  arrogant."  Yet, 
notwithstanding  all  these  handicaps,  he  had  been 
able  to  live  with  them  in  peace  and  had  even 
brought  about  some  improvement.  Yao  con- 
cluded to  try  him  and  the  experiment  was  in  every 
way  successful.  Everything  that  Shun  attempted 
prospered.  "At  the  end  of  the  year  the  place 
where  he  lived  became  a  village,  in  two  years  it 
became  a  town,  and  in  three  years  a  capital." 
Shun's  association  in  the  Empire  was  ratified;  he 
was  received  by  marriage  into  the  royal  family, 
and  named  by  Yao  as  his  heir.  But  though  men 
looked  forward  with  confident  expectation  to  the 
reign  of  Shun,  there  was  universal  sorrow  when 


the  good  King  Yao  was  gathered  to  his  fathers. 
"For  three  years,"  we  are  told,  "no  music  was 
played  anywhere." 

SHUN.  B.  C.  2258-2206.  Shun  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  chosen  by  Yao  for  his  good  quali- 
ties, became  sovereign  in  B.  C.  2258  instead  of 
Yao's  worthless  son,  Tan-chu.  He  speedily  justi- 
fied the  old  Emperor's  choice  and  the  reputation 
he  had  already  gained  during  the  years  of  re- 
gency. His  career,  which  is  described  in  that  sec- 
tion of  the  "Shu-King"  known  as  the  "Canon  of 
Shun,"  largely  follows  the  outlines  of  the  preced- 
ing reign.  To  the  details  already  given  of  his 
earlier  life  we  may  add  that  he  was  born  in  Ho-nan 
and  that  his  own  mother  had  died  whilst  he  was 
still  young.  His  father  remarried  and  the  boy 
had  with  his  stepmother  a  "sad,  sour  time."  At- 
tempts were  even  made  on  his  life,  but  he  behaved 
with  such  exemplary  patience  that  he  attracted, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  attention  of  Yao.  For  his 
conduct  as  a  young  man  Shun  has  been  enrolled 
among  the  twenty-four  illustrious  examples  of 
filial  piety.  He  labored  incessantly  to  support 
those  who  abused  him,  fishing,  making  pottery  and 
working  in  the  fields.  When  he  was  plowing,  the 
birds  and  beasts  are  said  to  have  come  of  their 
own  accord  to  weed  his  fields  and  help  to  draw  the 
plow.  On  ascending  the  throne  his  virtues  were 
equally  evident,  and  loyal  subjects  helped  to  bear 
the  burdens  of  the  state.  He  regulated  the  Calen- 
dar, standardized  weights  and  measures,  and 


THE  FIVE  RULERS  81 

made  mitigations  of  the  punishments  hitherto  in 
vogue,  altering  the  size  of  the  whip  which  was 
used  in  the  courts  and  the  thickness  of  the  birch 
rod  which  was  employed  for  the  chastisement  of 
school  boys.  His  choice  of  Yii  to  be  his  successor 
followed  the  precedent  of  Yao's  selection  of  him- 
self. The  story  of  this  early  period  may  seem 
thus  far  to  lack  excitement,  yet  surely  it  is  bet- 
ter to  read  these  records  of  patriarchal  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  a  nation,  and  of  the  gradually 
accumulated  fruits  of  culture,  than  the  stories  of 
rapine  and  bloodshed  which  fill  so  many  pages  of 
the  early  history  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Shun  put 
his  own  ideal  of  rulership  in  a  poem  which  is  in- 
cluded in  the  "Shu-King."  It  runs  as  follows: 

"When  the  members  work  joyfully 
The  head  rises  grandly; 

And    the    duties    of    all   the   offices    are    fully   dis- 
charged ; 

When  the  head  is  intelligent 
The  members  are  good, 
And  all  affairs  will  be  happily  performed." 


NOTES 

1.     The  Eight  Trigrams,  with  their  signification, 
are  as  follows: 


z=Heaven;=  — Earth  ;rr  —Thunder  ;=  ^Mountains; 
—  —  Firp; Water;"  ~3tefl.m;      =  =Wind. 

2.  The   most  ancient  of  the  names   for  the  Su- 
preme Being.     Shin,  the  term  sometimes  used,  espe- 
cially   by    some   of   the    early   missionaries,    denotes 
merely    a    spirit    (cf.    jinn).     Tien    Tshu    (Heaven 
Lord)   was  the  term  favored  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
missionaries,    but    is    objected    to    by    many    on    the 
ground   that   it   was   originally  the  name   of   one   of 
eight  Taoist  deities  introduced  about  B.  C.  250. 

3.  Sze    Ma    Tsien's    "Historical    Records"    were 
written  about  B.   C.   90   from  materials  collected  by 
his   father.     A  translation  into   French  has   recently 
been  published  by  M.  Chavannes. 

4.  The  "Shu-King"  says:     "Consult  the  tortoise 
shell  and  the  divining  stalks." 

5.  Li-min,  a  common  name  for  the  Chinese.     Cf. 
the  similar  appellation  given  to  the  ancient  Babylo- 
nians,  e.g.     "Laws   of   Hammurabi,"   "Go   forth   like 
the  sun  over  the  Black  Head  Race." 

6.  Hirth  attributes  this  to  Shun,  but  Pauthier  to 
Yao.     Probably  the  plan  was  common  to  both  reigns, 
answering  to  the  modern  so-called  "Cymbals  of  Op- 
pression." 

32 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  HIA  DYNASTY 

B.  C.  2205-1766. 

Yii — his  successors — T'ai  K'ang — Chung  K'ang 
— the  infamy  of  Kie — the  princess  Mei-hi — fall 
of  the  dynasty. 

Yii.  The  principality  of  Hia  had  been  be- 
stowed upon  Yii  before  the  death  of  Shun,  and 
the  new  King,  immediately  upon  ascending  the 
throne,  made  it  the  name  of  the  new  dynasty. 
Like  his  two  predecessors,  Yii  was  a  "Model  Em- 
peror." "His  voice  was  the  standard  of  sounds, 
his  body  the  standard  of  measures  of  length." 
He  is  said  to  have  been  a  native  of  the  province 
of  Sze-ch'uen.  His  exploits,  which  are  chronicled 
in  that  section  of  the  "Shu-King"  known  as  the 
"Tribute  of  Yii,"  redounded  to  the  advantage  of 
the  whole  country.  He  placed  five  sorts  of  in- 
struments at  his  palace  gates  so  that  the  people 
who  sought  his  presence  might  acquaint  him  with 
the  nature  of  their  business.  He  divided  the 
country  into  nine  provinces  and  so  arranged  the 
Imperial  domain  that  it  formed  the  central  square 
of  a  series  of  concentric  territories.  These  were 

named    respectively:     1,    the    royal    domain;    2, 

33 


34       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

the  domain  of  the  nobles ;  3,  the  domain  of  peace ; 
4,  the  domain  of  restraint  (for  barbarians  and 
exiles)  ;  5,  the  wild  domain.  He  was  a  great  en- 
gineer and  labored  for  nine  years  at  the  work  of 
leading  the  waters  of  the  Hwang-ho  back  to  their 
proper  channel.  During  this  time  he  was  so  ab- 
sorbed that  he  took  little  note  of  food  and  cloth- 
ing and  even  thrice  passed  the  door  of  his  own 
house  without  looking  in,  although  he  heard  from 
within  the  wailing  of  his  infant  son.  He  "made 
cuttings  through  the  nine  mountains,  formed  the 
nine  lakes,  regulated  the  course  of  the  nine  riv- 
ers, fixed  the  limits  of  the  nine  provinces." 
"Among  the  most  marvelous  of  the  achievements 
ascribed  to  the  handiwork  of  Yii,"  says  Mayers, 
"is  the  opening  of  a  passage  for  the  western 
waters  through  the  present  defile  of  Wu  Shan." 
His  ideal  is  expressed  in  the  saying  which  has 
been  attributed  to  him,  "I  just  think  of  working 
incessantly  every  day."  Evidently  his  industry 
was  appreciated,  for  the  Chinese  saying  runs, 
"How  grand  was  the  achievement  of  Yii !  How 
far  reaching  his  glorious  energy !  But  for  Yii 
we  should  all  have  been  fishes."  Under  this  ener- 
getic and  earnest  monarch  China  prospered 
greatly  and  the  dominion  was  extended  westward 
to  the  "moving  sand"  (the  desert  of  Gobi), 
whilst  the  Miao  tribes  of  aborigines  were  subdued 
towards  the  south.  In  connection  with  the  divi- 
sion of  the  land  into  the  nine  provinces  the  story 
may  be  mentioned  that  Yii  made  nine  brazen  vases 


THE  HIA  DYNASTY  35 

or  tripods  upon  the  preservation  of  which  de- 
pended the  preservation  of  the  dynasty.  Another 
interesting  legend  associates  Yii  with  the  first  dis- 
covery of  wine.  The  first  manufacture  was  due 
to  a  man  named  I  Ti  who  took  some  to  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Emperor.  She  in  turn  brought  it  to 
Yii  who  tasted  it  and  poured  the  rest  upon  the 
ground.  He  then  ordered  the  discoverer  to  be 
banished  from  the  country  and  forbade  any  fur- 
ther knowledge  of  the  dangerous  art. 

THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  Yii.  Eighteen  monarchs 
reigned  during  the  period  assigned  to  this  dy- 
nasty. The  era  was,  however,  not  without  its 
vicissitudes.  T'ai  K'ang,  who  as  the  assistant 
of  Yii,  is  said  to  have  paced  the  whole  land  from 
east  to  west,  offended  the  people  by  his  gay  mode 
of  living  and  ruined  their  harvests  by  his  hunt- 
ing expeditions.  He  was  dethroned  in  B.  C.  2160. 
His  successor,  Chung  K'ang,  is  best  known 
through  an  eclipse  which  was  chronicled  in  his 
reign  and  which  the  court  astronomers  had  failed 
to  predict.  Modern  astronomers  have  spent 
much  labor,  with  no  very  satisfactory  results,  in 
endeavoring  to  fix  the  date  of  this  event.  An 
interregnum  is  reckoned  from  B.  C.  2218  to  2079 
and  the  dynasty  gradually  declined  until  the  end 
came  under  the  infamous  Kie.  This  tyrant,  with 
the  aid  of  his  no  less  infamous  consort,  Mei-hi, 
a  slave  who  had  been  presented  to  him  in  B.  C. 
1786  by  one  of  the  conquered  chiefs  as  a  propi- 
tiatory offering,  filled  full  the  cup  of  abomina- 


tions.  Among  other  choice  amusements  of  this 
Chinese  Nero  was  the  creation  of  a  vast  lake  of 
wine  in  which  he  would  compel  his  subjects,  three 
thousand  at  a  time,  to  plunge  at  the  sound  of  a 
drum,  whilst  he  and  his  queen  and  courtiers 
laughed  with  delight  at  their  brutal  intoxication. 
The  downfall  and  death  of  the  last  of  the  Hia 
Kings  were  brought  about  through  a  revolution 
headed  by  Ch'eng  T'ang,  the  founder  of  the  dy- 
nasty of  Shang.  The  tyrant,  Kie  Kwei,  was  cap- 
tured and  sent  into  banishment. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  SHANG  DYNASTY 

B.  C.  1766-1122. 

T'ang,  the  Completer — Wu  T'ing — Lin-sin — 
Wu-yin — Chou-sin — the  "Heater"  and  the  "Cop- 
per Pillar" — the  revolt  of  Wan-wang — Ki  tsze 
and  the  conquest  of  Korea. 

CH'ENG  T'ANG.  The  founder  of  the  dynasty 
of  Shang,  which  is  also  called  the  Yin  dynasty, 
is  another  favorite  of  the  Confucian  historians. 
He  had,  we  are  told,  graven  upon  his  bath  the 
words,  thrice  repeated,  "Renew  thyself  every 
day."  He  was  careful  in  all  his  hunting  expe- 
ditions to  diminish  in  all  possible  ways  the  suffer- 
ings of  the  victims  such  as  were  necessitated  by 
the  royal  sport.  His  especial  title  to  fame  is, 
however,  in  his  offer  to  yield  himself  as  a  sacri- 
fice in  order  to  bring  to  an  end  a  severe  seven 
years'  famine  which  had  reduced  the  country  to 
great  extremities  of  distress.  Putting  on  the 
symbols  of  mourning,  he  mounted  his  car  and 
drove  to  a  certain  designated  spot  at  the  foot 
of  a  mountain.  Here  he  dismounted,  prostrated 

himself  to  the  earth  and  made  confession  of  his 

37 


38       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

own  sins  and  of  those  of  the  people.  Hardly 
had  he  finished  his  prayer  when  there  came  an 
abundant  rain  and  the  land  speedily  recovered  its 
former  fertility.  The  credit  for  T'ang's  suc- 
cessful reign  must  be  shared  with  the  famous 
minister,  I  Yin,  who  was,  it  is  said,  "almost  what 
Shun  had  been  to  Yao,  and  Yao  to  Shun."  A 
legend  declares  that  he  was  found  as  an  infant 
in  a  hollow  mulberry  tree,  a  story  probably  due 
to  the  name  of  his  birthplace.  His  enemies  said 
that  he  owed  his  elevation  to  his  skill  in  cooking, 
through  which  he  maintained  his  influence  over 
his  royal  master.  But,  cook  or  no  cook,  he  re- 
mained a  trusted  councilor  until  his  death  in 
B.  C.  1713. 

DECLINE  or  THE  DYNASTY.  As  in  the  case  of 
the  Hia  dynasty,  vicious  kings  soon  dimmed  the 
glory  of  the  dynasty  which  had  been  won  by 
T'ang,  the  Completer,  and  ruined  the  results 
painfully  achieved.  Wu  T'ing  tried  his  best  to 
stay  the  plague  of  wickedness  by  going  back  to 
the  people  for  his  chief  official,  choosing  as  min- 
ister a  poor  artisan  whom,  under  divine  inspira- 
tion, he  had  beheld  in  a  dream.  Lin-sin  (B.  C. 
1225-1219)  put  all  responsibility  on  his  ministers 
and  refused  frankly  to  be  bothered  with  any  of 
the  duties  or  cares  of  government.  Wu-yih 
(B.  C.  1198-1194)  openly  defied  the  gods  and 
blasphemed  the  spirit  of  Heaven.  "He  played 
chess  with  it  and  told  a  man  to  make  its  moves. 
When  the  spirit  of  Heaven  lost,  he  derided  and 


THE  SHANG  DYNASTY  39 

insulted  it;  and  making  for  it  a  leathern  bag,  he 
filled  it  with  blood,  hung  it  up  in  the  air,  and 
shot  arrows  at  it."  Poetic  justice,  in  this  case, 
came  with  no  halting  foot,  and  the  blasphemous 
libertine  was  struck  by  lightning  and  died. 

CHOU-SIN.  B.  C.  1154-1123.  The  climax  of 
evil  came  with  the  reign  of  Chou-sin,  or  Shu, 
whose  career  of  infamy  runs  in  many  respects 
parallel  with  that  of  Kie  Kwei.  The  list  of  his 
enormities  is  summed  up  in  the  "Great  Declara- 
tion" of  the  Shu-King.  The  good  advice  of  the 
faithful  minister  and  relative,  Pi-kan,  he  requited 
with  the  brutal  order  addressed  to  his  minions  to 
take  out  the  heart  of  the  courageous  councilor. 
"I  have  heard,"  said  he,  "that  a  man's  heart  has 
seven  openings ;  I  would  fain  make  the  experi- 
ment upon  Pi-kan."  The  palace  and  the  pleas- 
ure grounds,  known  as  Luh  T'ai  or  Deer  Tower, 
were  the  unhallowed  scenes  of  nameless  orgies. 
To  these  he  was  stimulated  and  encouraged  by 
his  mistress,  T'a-Jci,  one  of  the  most  sinister 
names  in  the  history  of  China.  This  lady,  who 
was  a  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Su  and  a  prize  of 
war,  distinguished  herself  by  the  invention  of 
sundry  ingenious  instruments  of  torture.  Among 
these  were  the  "Heater"  and  the  "Copper  Pillar." 
The  latter  was  a  metal  column,  well  greased, 
which  was  laid  over  a  pit  of  burning  charcoal. 
The  unhappy  victims  of  the  royal  caprice  or 
mirth  were  prcssingly  invited  to  walk  across  this 
fatal  bridge,  with  a  result  which  was  as  pleasur- 


40       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

able  to  the  royal  libertines  as  it  was  disastrous 
to  themselves. 

THE  REVOLT  OF  WEN  WANG.  At  length  the 
cruelties  of  Chou-sin  exhausted  the  patience  of 
the  princes  and  the  people.  A  revolt  broke  out 
headed  by  Chang,  Duke  of  Chou,  known  also  as 
Si  Peh,  "the  Chief  of  the  West,"  and  better  still 
by  the  name  given  to  him  on  canonization,  Wen 
Wang.  The  tyrant  in  desperate  straits  showed 
some  last  flicker  of  courage.  To  the  assembled 
troops  he  gave  the  following  singular  advice:  "In 
to-day's  business  do  not  take  more  than  six  or 
seven  steps,  then  stop  and  dress  your  ranks. 
Heroes,  exert  yourselves !  Do  not  exceed  four, 
five,  six  or  seven  strokes,  then  stop  and  dress  your 
ranks.  Exert  yourselves,  heroes !  Put  on  a  ter- 
rible look!  Be  like  tigers,  bears,  wolves,  and 
dragons  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sheng."  When 
this  remarkable  army  was  put  to  flight  in  the 
battle  of  "the  ford  of  Meng,"  Chou-sin  decked 
himself  in  all  his  jewels,  mounted  the  marble 
tower  he  had  built  for  his  mistress  in  the  notori- 
ous pleasure  gardens  of  Luh  T'ai  and  there,  like 
another  Zimri  or  Sardanapalus,  set  fire  to  the 
palace  and  cast  himself  alive  into  the  flames.  In 
this  way  Chou-sin  put  an  end  at  once  to  his  own 
not  very  valuable  existence  and  to  the  dynasty 
which  had  begun  so  gloriously.  The  favorite, 
T'a-ki,  who  had  had  so  large  a  share  in  precipi- 
tating the  disaster,  was  captured  and  beheaded. 
It  is  said  that  so  great  was  the  influence  of  the 


THE  SHANG  DYNASTY  41 

personal  charm  of  this  Chinese  Circe  to  the  very 
last  that  no  one  could  be  found  to  deal  the  fatal 
stroke,  until  the  aged  councilor  of  Wu  Wang, 
whose  name  was  T'ai  Kung,  stepped  forward  and, 
covering  up  his  face,  made  himself  the  avenger 
of  a  nation's  wrongs.  The  accumulated  treas- 
ures of  the  "Deer  Tower"  gardens  were  dis- 
tributed by  the  conqueror  to  the  people  from 
whose  spoliation  they  had  been  acquired. 

KI-TSZE.  Ki-tsze,  one  of  the  vainly  protest- 
ing ministers  of  the  defeated  Chou-sin,  deserves 
to  be  mentioned,  if  not  as  the  author  of  one  of 
the  most  important  sections  of  the  "Shu-King," 
as  the  real  founder  of  the  civilization  of  Korea. 
He  was,  like  Pi-kan,  allied  to  the  Emperor  by 
blood,  but,  with  his  two  fellow  ministers,  Pi-kan 
and  Wei-tsze,  was  imprisoned  by  his  fatuous  kins- 
man when  he  refused  to  remain  silent  with  regard 
to  the  fatal  folly  which  was  threatening  the  fall 
of  the  dynasty.  The  two  fellow-prisoners  per- 
ished, but  Ki-tsze  was  released  from  prison  on 
the  accession  of  the  first  Chou  sovereign.  He 
was  promised  rank  and  office  under  the  new  dy- 
nasty, but  his  sturdy  loyalty  to  his  first  allegi- 
ance prevailed  and  he  preferred  expatriation. 
Korea  was  the  land  to  which  he  turned.  The 
legendary  history  of  this  country  goes  back  as 
far  as  B.  C.  2333,  to  the  time  when  the  Son  of 
the  Creator  of  Heaven  came  down  to  a  mountain 
in  the  province  of  Phyong  An.  Here  he  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Tan  Gun  and  reigned  on  earth 


42       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

a  thousand  years.  But  it  is  Ki-tsze's  migration 
to  Korea  and  his  conquest  of  the  land,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  Clio-sen,  "Land  of  the  Morn- 
ing Calm,"  which  marks  the  real  beginning  of 
Korean  history.  It  is  believed  that  he  came  by 
sea,  landed  somewhere  south  of  the  Han  river, 
and  brought  with  him  all  the  arts  of  civilization. 
He  died  B.  C.  1083  and  the  dynasty  he  founded 
had  the  good  fortune  to  survive  until  B.  C.  193. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  CHOU  DYNASTY 

B.  C.  1122-249. 
"  I.  FROM   WU-WANG   TO  THE    FIVE   LEADERS 

General  character  of  the  dynasty — Wen  Wang 
— Chou  Kung — the  Chou  Li — Cheng  Wang  and 
his  successors  —  Muh-wang  —  Ll-wang  —  Suang 
Wa  ng — Yu-Wang — Ping-wang, 

THE  CHOU  DYNASTY.  The  dynasty  of  Chou  is 
the  longest  lived  of  all  the  imperial  lines  in  the 
history  of  China  and  includes  the  reigns  of 
thirty-five  sovereigns,  aggregating  a  total  of 
nearly  nine  centuries.  The  period  as  a  whole  re- 
veals a  gradual  weakening  of  the  central  author- 
ity by  reason  of  the  increase  of  power  in  the  vas- 
sal and  confederate  states.  The  number  of  these 
at  one  time  was  as  many  as  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  and  even  in  the  time  of  Confucius  there  were 
fifty-two.  Wars  continued  for  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  time,  against  the  Huns  on  the  north- 
ern frontier  and  against  the  aboriginal  tribes 
south  of  the  Yang-tsze-kiang.  An  important 
feature  of  the  epoch  is  in  the  gradual  enforce- 
ment of  the  (so-called)  Confucian  system  under 

a  series  of  able  teachers,  philosophers  and  admin- 

43 


44       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

istrators.  These  include  such  men  as  the  sage, 
Confucius,  himself,  and  his  great  disciple  and  in- 
terpreter, Mencius.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
Chou  dynasty  there  are  some  indications  of  reac- 
tion against  this  system  through  the  pressure  of 
forces  such  as  were  doubtless  reinforced  by  the 
infusion  of  a  strong  Tatar  element  from  the 
north.  These  forces  indeed  triumphed  for  a  time 
in  the  overthrow  of  the  Chous  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Tsin  dynasty,  but  ultimately  the  for- 
eign elements  were  themselves  assimilated  to  the 
Confucian  ideal. 

WEN  WANG.  B.  C.  1231-1135.  The  real 
founder  of  this  dynasty  was  the  Ch'ang,  Duke  of 
Chou,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken  as  head- 
ing the  revolt  against  Chou-sin.  He  had  been 
hereditary  prince  of  the  principality  of  Ch'i  and 
was  thrown  into  prison  by  the  tyrant  as  suspect 
and  dangerous.  In  prison  he  utilized  two  years 
and  attained  fame  as  the  author  of  a  work  on  the 
Sixty-four  Hexagrams  which  had  been  evolved 
from  the  Eight  Trigrams  of  Fu-hsi.  This  treat- 
ise, together  with  the  additions  made  through  the 
filial  affection  of  his  son,  the  great  duke  of  Chou, 
constitutes  that  most  bewildering  of  all  the  Con- 
fucian classics  known  as  the  Yi-King,  or  Book 
of  Changes.  Wen  Wang's  literary  labors  were, 
however,  no  barrier  to  his  fitness  for  military 
achievement.  Through  the  intercession  of  the 
people  who  loved  him  and  because  of  the  promise 
to  get  for  the  Emperor  a  beautiful  concubine  and 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  45 

some  splendid  horses  from  the  west,  he  was  after 
two  years  released  from  prison  and  sent  west  to 
fight  the  frontier  tribes.  But  he  soon  returned 
and  headed  the  revolt  against  Chou-sin  with  the 
result  that  has  already  been  recorded.  He 
"found  the  people  hanging  head  downwards  and 
set  them  on  their  feet"  and  was  known  to  all  fu- 
ture times  as  Wen  Wang,  "the  Martial." 

Wu  WANG.  Wu  Wang,  or  Fa,  his  son,  became 
the  first  reigning  sovereign  of  the  Chou  line, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  received  its  name  from 
the  Duchy  of  Chou  on  the  western  frontier.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  genuinely  great  monarch, 
commencing  his  rule  with  generous  actions  and  a 
conciliatory  attitude  towards  the  conquered. 
He  opened  the  prisons  which  were  doubtless  filled 
with  the  victims  of  Chou-sin's  tyranny  and  also 
the  granaries  whose  contents  at  this  juncture 
were  badly  needed.  In  the  proclamation  which  he 
made  exposing  the  misdeeds  of  the  late  dynasty, 
the  following  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  crimes 
of  Chou-sin:  "He  has  put  men  into  office  on  the 
hereditary  principle," — a  striking  testimony  to 
the  essentially  democratic  character  of  the  early 
Chinese  government.  Wu  Wang  established  his 
capital  at  Si-ngan-fu,  a  city  which  had  the  honor 
of  being  the  center  of  government  at  several  sub- 
sequent epochs,  and  was  the  natural  refuge  for 
the  Emperor  and  Empress  Dowager  during  the 
months  following  the  Boxer  revolt  of  1900.  Wu 
Wang  also  reformed  the  calendar,  created  schools 


of  various  grades,  and  made  other  memorable  im- 
provements in  methods  of  government  and  ad- 
ministration. 

CHOU  KUNG.  The  great  glory  of  the  reign  of 
Wu  Wang  was  the  character  and  statesmanship 
of  the  King's  brother,  Tan,  better  known  as  Chou 
Rung,  "the  Duke  of  Chou."  We  may  call  him 
the  Duke  of  Chou  par  excellence,  for  he  is  in- 
cluded by  Mencius  in  the  number  of  the  "Three 
Great  Sages"  of  China,  of  whom  the  other  two 
are  Yii,  the  patriarch  king  of  the  Hia  dynasty, 
and,  of  course,  Confucius.  The  philosopher  adds 
the  reason  for  his  estimate  as  follows:  "In  for- 
mer times  Yii  repressed  the  vast  waters  of  the  in- 
undation and  the  empire  was  reduced  to  order. 
Chou  Kung's  achievements  extended  even  to  the 
barbarous  tribes  of  the  west  and  north;  he  drove 
away  all  ferocious  animals ;  and  the  people  en- 
joyed repose."  He  did  even  more  than  his 
father,  Wen  Wang,  for  the  perfecting  of  the 
Book  of  Changes,  the  "Yi-King,"  interpreting 
the  significance  of  each  line  of  the  hexagram,  as 
his  father  had  interpreted  the  general  meaning  of 
the  whole.  As  he  showed  by  this  voluntary  labor 
his  filial  love,  so  he  showed  his  fraternal  love  by 
constituting  himself  the  pillar  of  Wu  Wang's 
throne.  He  might  almost  be  regarded  as  the 
most  potent  force  in  the  permanent  organization 
of  the  Chinese  administration  system.  His  zeal 
was  so  great  that  he  received  interviewers  even 
whilst  he  was  having  his  bath,  rushing  out  hold- 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  47 

ing  his  wet  hair  in  his  hand  rather  than  keep  them 
waiting.  His  seriousness  is  illustrated  by  his  re- 
buke of  the  Emperor  for  bestowing  a  certain 
symbol  of  power  upon  another  jokingly.  "I  was 
only  joking,"  said  the  prince.  "Nay,"  replied 
Chou  Kung,  "a  prince  never  jokes.  His  words 
are  written  down  as  history,  take  shape  as  cere- 
monial rites,  or  are  set  to  music  and  sung."  His 
delicacy  of  feeling  was  shown  by  his  prayer  for 
the  recovery  of  Wu  Wang  when  the  monarch  was 
dangerously  ill.  Chou  Kung's  appeal  to  the  an- 
cestors and  his  divination  with  the  tortoises  were 
regarded  as  the  real  cause  of  the  King's  recov- 
ery. The  same  feeling  was  shown  later  on  the 
death  of  Wu  Wang  and  the  accession  of  the  child- 
king,  Cheng  Wang.  Chou  Kung  feared  it  might 
be  supposed  that  he  was  himself  aiming  at  the 
supreme  power,  so,  although  he  was  appointed 
regent,  he  went  voluntarily  into  exile  to  escape 
suspicion  of  self-seeking.  Fortunately  for  the 
realm,  he  was  recalled  when  certain  impending 
difficulties  and  dangers  made  his  presence  once 
again  necessary.  To  the  above  catalogue  of  the 
great  Duke's  achievements  we  may  add  that  he 
was  often  described  as  the  inventor  of  the  Mari- 
ner's Compass  on  the  strength  of  the  mention  of 
a  wonderful  "south-pointing  chariot"  which  he 
devised  to  assist  the  return  of  the  envoys  from 
Tonkin  to  their  own  home.  The  reference,  how- 
ever, is  of  a  very  doubtful  meaning. 

THE  CHOU  LI.     Of  more  authenticity  and  even 


48       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

value,  as  an  achievement,  may  be  credited  to  Chou 
Kung  the  composition  of  the  "Chou  li,"  or  "Cere- 
monial of  Chou,"  a  book  describing  in  detail  the 
organization  of  the  Government  at  this  epoch. 
Of  this  work  Professor  Hirth  has  written:  "As 
an  educator  of  the  nation  the  'Chou  li'  has  prob- 
ably not  its  like  among  the  literatures  of  the 
world,  not  excepting  even  the  Bible."  Whether 
in  its  present  form  it  can  be  regarded  as  the  work 
of  Chou  Kung  is  at  least  doubtful,  but  it  may 
certainly  be  considered  as  reflecting  the  spirit  of 
his  administration. 

It  contains,  for  the  first  time,  the  categorical 
division  of  the  people  into  nine  classes,  in  the  fol- 
lowing order :  landlords,  gardeners,  woodmen,  live- 
stock-keepers, artisans,  merchants,  housewives, 
servants,  and  those  without  fixed  professions. 

The  chief  honor  is  thereby  given  to  those  who 
cultivate  the  soil  and  the  status  of  the  merchant 
is  low,  because  he  is  a  middleman,  not  a  producer. 
The  "Chou  li"  also  describes  in  detail  the  duties 
of  the  Six  Boards  which  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Mandarin  1  of  Heaven,  with  general  su- 
pervision over  all  government,  the  regulation  of 
the  dress,  food  and  all  the  activities  of  the  Em- 
peror. 

£.  The  Mandarin  of  Earth,  responsible  for 
the  welfare  of  the  people.  Among  the  numerous 
responsibilities  of  this  Board  was  a  fairly  com- 
prehensive one  with  regard  to  marriages.  It 
was  supposed  to  see  to  it  that  every  girl  was  mar- 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  49 

ried  by  the  time  she  was  twenty  and  every  man 
by  the  time  he  was  thirty. 

3.  The  Mandarin  of  Spring,  in  charge  of  all 
religious  rites,  and  ceremonies  associated  with  the 
observance  of  the  seasons,  divinations  and  astro- 
logical investigations. 

4.  The  Mandarin  of  Summer,  the  Board  of 
War,  providing  detailed  instructions  for  the  rais- 
ing and  equipment  of  troops. 

5.  The  Mandarin  of  Autumn,  the  Board  of 
Justice,  regulating  all  punishments. 

6.  The  Mandarin   of   Winter,   the   Board   of 
Public  Works. 

These  six  Boards  remained  substantially  in  this 
order  of  importance  until  the  creation  of  the 
Wai-icu-pu,  or  Board  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  1900. 
The  Wai-wu-pu  now  takes  precedence  of  all  but 
the  first. 

CHENG  WANG  AND  His  SUCCESSORS.  Chou 
Rung  died  in  the  year  B.  C.  1105  and  was  buried, 
as  he  deserved,  with  royal  honors  and  amid  the 
lamentation  of  the  whole  nation.  The  kings  who 
succeeded  Wu  Wang  must  be  passed  over  with 
but  slight  notice.  Perhaps  we  lose  little  by  the 
omissions.  Cheng  Wang  selected  a  new  capital, 
Loh  Yang,  the  present  city  of  Ho-nan-fu,  a  city 
which,  like  Si-ngan-fu,  had  its  vicissitudes. 
Chao-Wang,  B.  C.  1052-1002,  helps  to  illustrate 
the  growing  importance  of  popular  feeling.  He 
drew  down  on  himself  much  ill  will  because  of  the 
heedlessness  with  which,  when  engaged  in  war  or 


50       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

hunting,  he  trampled  down  the  crops  of  his  sub- 
jects. For  this  they  revenged  themselves  in  the 
following  summary  manner:  On  the  king  requir- 
ing to  cross  a  certain  river,  the  people  provided 
him  with  a  boat  so  constructed  as  to  come  apart 
in  the  middle  of  the  stream.  The  king  managed 
to  swim  ashore,  but  he  died  not  very  long  after, 
either  as  a  result  of  the  wetting  or  through  an- 
other similar  "accident." 

MUH  WANG,  who  succeeded  Chao-Wang  and 
reigned  from  B.  C.  1001  to  947,  deserves  mention 
on  account  of  his  travels.  With  his  charioteer 
Tsao-Fu  and  his  eight  marvelous  horses  he  went 
"wherever  wheelruts  ran  and  the  hoofs  of  horses 
had  trodden."  The  book  giving  an  account  of 
these  adventures  only  dates,  however,  from  the 
second  or  third  century  B.  C.,  so  that  there  is  con- 
siderable room  for  doubt.  One  interesting  visit 
was  to  the  Si-Wang-Mu  or  "Royal  Lady  of  the 
West."  The  identity  of  this  princess  is  one  of 
the  mysteries  of  history  and  Taoist  writers  have 
woven  around  the  story  a  mass  of  marvelous 
fairy  lore,  describing  the  Queen  as  inhabiting 
a  magnificent  mountain  palace,  hard  by  which 
was  the  Lake  of  Gems  and  the  Peach  Tree  of  Im- 
mortality from  whose  branches  flew  azure-winged 
birds  on  errands  of  love.  Here  she  lived  sur- 
rounded by  troops  of  genii  and  by  and  by  a  con- 
sort was  found  for  her  in  Tung  Wang  Kung, 
the  Eastern  King  Lord.  Others  have  used  their 
imaginations  in  a  different  direction  by  recog- 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  51 

nizing  in  the  Si  Wang  Mu  the  Queen  of  Sheba! 
While  still  others  have  adopted  the  prosaic  ex- 
planation that  we  have  here  simply  the  name  of 
a  tribe.  Muh-Wang  visited  also  "the  land  of 
moving  sands,"  and  "the  land  of  heaped-up 
feathers,"  and  came  to  the  land  "where  the  green 
birds  cast  their  feathers."  The  geography  of 
all  this  is  as  much  a  mystery  as  the  personality 
of  the  Royal  Lady  of  the  West,  but  the  pride 
of  Persia  has  claimed  the  honor  of  a  visit  in  these 
peregrinations.  It  is  quite  possible  that  by 
means  of  some  such  expeditions  as  these  referred 
to  there  was  introduced  into  China  the  particu- 
lar philosophic  and  religious  element  which  ap- 
pears a  little  later  in  the  teaching  of  Lao-tsze. 

Inferior  names  succeed  to  that  of  Muh-Wang 
and  the  growing  inability  of  the  Emperors  to 
manage  their  vast,  feudal  domains  becomes  in- 
creasingly evident.  Some  of  the  statesmen,  how- 
ever, seem  to  have  been  men  of  more  dignity  and 
resource  than  their  masters. 

Li  WANG.  B.  C.  878-842.  As  an  example  we 
may  take  the  story  of  the  Duke  of  Shau  who 
was  minister  under  Li  Wang.  Li  Wang  disliked 
and  resented  the  open  criticism  of  his  policy  by 
the  people.  As  a  deterrent  he  ordered  all  the 
suspected  slanderers  to  be  seized  and  executed. 
This  done,  criticism  was  naturally  silent  and  the 
exultant  Emperor  exclaimed  to  his  minister, 
"Where  are  all  your  gossipers  now?"  The  an- 
swer was  as  follows :  "All  you  have  brought 


52       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

about  is  a  screen  which  prevents  you  from  learn- 
ing the  real  sentiments  of  the  people;  but  you 
should  know  that  it  is  more  dangerous  to  shut 
the  people's  mouths  than  to  stop  the  waters  of 
a  river.  To  stop  the  progress  of  a  river  means 
to  force  it  to  expand  and  thus  do  more  harm 
than  if  it  had  been  allowed  to  take  its  natural 
course.  Such  is  the  case  with  your  people.  If 
you  want  to  prevent  the  damage  threatening 
from  the  inundation  of  a  river  you  have  to  lead 
it  into  a  proper  bed  which  will  hold  all  its  waters ; 
if  you  want  to  make  an  impression  on  the  people, 
let  them  have  perfect  liberty  of  speech." 

SUAN  WANG.  B.  C.  827-782.  Suan  Wang 
furnishes  another  illustration  of  the  danger  of 
disregarding  the  popular  will  and  the  maintenance 
of  governmental  traditions.  "There  was  a  time- 
honored  custom,"  says  Hirth,  "under  the  Chou 
dynasty  that  the  Emperor  had  to  perform  the 
ceremony  of  working  in  person  in  the  'Fields  of 
a  Thousand  Acres'  set  aside  for  the  purpose, 
a  ceremony  similar  to  that  of  the  handling  of  the 
plow  by  the  Emperor  at  the  present  day.  Suan 
Wang  declined  to  comply  with  the  practice  in 
spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  his  dukes,  with  the 
result  that  in  B.  C.  789  his  army  was  defeated  in 
a  battle  against  certain  Tangutan  tribes.  The 
name  of  the  battle  field,  according  to  Sze  Ma 
Tsien,  was  Ts'ien  mou,  which  means  'a  thousand 
acres,'  but  it  would  appear  that  the  name  was 
given  to  the  locality  afterwards  in  commemora- 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  53 

tion  of  the  Emperor's  disinclination  to  listen  to 
his  minister's  remonstrations."  Whether  due  or 
not  to  the  Emperor's  crimes,  a  great  drought  af- 
flicted the  land  at  this  time,  and  the  "Book  of 
Odes"  2  gives  us  the  following  fine  account  of 
Suan  Wang's  expostulation  with  Heaven. 

"Brightly  resplendent  in  the  sky  revolved 
The  milky  way.     The  monarch  cried,  Alas! 
What  crime  is  ours,  that  Heaven  thus  sends  on  us 
Death  and  Disorder,  that  with  blow  on  blow 
Famine  attacks  us?     Surely  I  have  grudged 
To  God  no  victims ;  all  our  store  is  spent 
On  tokens.     Why  is  it  I  am  not  heard? 
Rages  the  drought.     The  hills  are  parched,  and  dry 
The  streams.     The  demon  of  the  drought 
Destroys  like  one  who  scatters  fiery  flames. 
Terrified  by  the  burning  heat  my  heart, 
My  mourning  heart,  seems  all  consumed  with  fire. 
The  many  dukes  and  ministers  of  the  past 
Pay  me  no  heed.     O  God,  from  thy  great  heaven 
Send  me  permission  to  withdraw  myself 
Into  seclusion.     Fearful  is  the  drought. 
I  hesitate,  I  dread  to  go  away. 
Why  has  this  drought  been  sent  upon  my  land? 
No  cause  for  it  know  I.     Full  early  rose 
My  prayers  for  a  good  year;  not  late  was  I 
In  off'ring  sacrifice  unto  the  Lords 
Of  the  Four  Quarters  and  the  land.     Afar 
In  the  high  Heaven  God  listens  not.     And  yet 
Surely  a  reverent  man  as  I  have  been 
To  all  intelligent  spirits  should  not  be 
The  victim  of  their  overwhelming  wrath." 


54       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

What  with  physical  calamities  within  and  the 
increasing  troublesomeness  of  the  Huns  without, 
the  military  and  civil  capacity  of  the  rulers  of 
China  at  this  time  was  certainly  put  severely  to 
the  test. 

Yu  WANG.  B.  C.  781-771.  Suan  Wang  was 
succeeded  by  Yu  Wang  who  reigned  just  ten 
years.  There  is  a  presentiment  of  coming  dis- 
aster in  the  story  of  this  effeminate  ruler  and 
his  favorite,  Pao  Sze.  Of  mysterious  birth,  Pao 
was  ordered  slain  when  an  infant,  but,  wrapped 
in  a  piece  of  matting,  she  was  rescued  from  the 
river,  put  out  to  nurse,  and  later  presented  to 
the  king  because  of  her  great  beauty.  She  soon 
displaced  the  legitimate  wife  of  Yu  Wang  and 
caused  the  banishment  of  the  heir-apparent. 
And  now  no  folly  was  too  great  for  Yu  Wang  to 
perpetrate  in  order  to  amuse  his  mistress,  who, 
for  her  part,  found  it  by  no  means  easy  to  be 
amused.  Because  she  liked  the  swishing  sound 
of  rending  silk,  he  ordered  the  tearing  up  of 
large  numbers  of  pieces  of  the  costliest  fabrics. 
The  king  had  established  outposts  at  which 
beacon-fires  could  be  kindled  and  drums  beaten 
to  give  warning  of  the  incursions  of  the  Huns. 
The  melancholy  princess  could  not  be  induced  to 
smile  until  she  was  permitted  to  give  the  order 
for  the  lighting  of  the  beacon  in  order  that  she 
might  enjoy  the  discomfiture  of  the  feudatory 
princes  when  they  responded  to  the  false  alarm. 
At  length  the  enemy  arrived  in  reality ;  the  cry 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  55 

of  "Wolf"  was  given  as  usual,  but  this  time  in 
vain ;  no  troops  appeared ;  the  king  was  taken 
prisoner  and  slain,  and  Pao  Sze  herself  carried 
off,  together  with  much  booty.  She  is  said  to 
have  committed  suicide  by  strangling  herself. 

In  the  sixth  year  of  this  reign  occurred  the 
eclipse  of  the  sun  which  gives  us  our  earliest  fixed 
point  in  Chinese  chronology,  viz: — Aug.  29,  B.  C. 
766.  The  reference  to  the  event  is  contained  in 
one  of  the  Odes  of  the  Shi  King:. 

"At  the  conjunction  of  the  sun  and  moon  in  the  10th 
month, 

On  the  first  day  of  the  moon,  which  was  sin  man, 

The  sun  was  eclipsed,  a  thing  of  very  evil  omen. 

Then  the  moon  became  small,  and  now  the  sun  be- 
came small, 

Henceforth  the  lower  people  will  be  in  very  de- 
plorable case." 

P'ING  WANG.  B.  C.  770-720.  P'ing  Wang 
followed  his  father,  Yu,  and  reigned  for  the  most 
part  peacefully.  But  the  Chou  dynasty  was  now 
past  its  zenith  and,  although  destined  to  brave 
the  storms  of  time  for  five  centuries  longer,  the 
story  was  to  be  one  of  anarchy,  assassination, 
misrule  and  trouble.  The  vassal  princess  became 
more  and  more  powerful  and  therewith  more  and 
more  independent.  They  began  to  take  posses- 
sion of  entire  provinces  and  to  govern  them  with- 
out reference  to  the  decrees  of  the  Emperors. 
A  good  illustration  in  point  is  that  kingdom  of 


56 

Lu  (part  of  the  modern  province  of  Shan-tung) 
of  which  Confucius  has  given  the  continuous  his- 
tory for  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years, 
namely,  from  B.  C.  722  to  481.  The  history  will 
be  found  in  that  one  of  the  Confucian  Classics 
known  as  Ch'un  Tsiu  or  the  Spring  and  Au- 
tumn Annals. 


NOTES 

1.  The    word    Mandarin    comes,    not    from    the 
Portugese  mandar,  as  is  often  asserted,  but  from  the 
Sanscrit  mantrin,  "counsellor/'  from  the  root  "man," 
"to  think." 

2.  "Book  of  Odes."     Pt.  Ill,  Book  III,  Ode  4. 


57 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  CHOU  DYNASTY 

(Concluded) 

B.  C.  685-249. 

II.  FROM  THE  FIVE  LEADERS  TO  THE  TSIN 
EPOCH. 

Huan  Wang — Duke  Huan  of  Ts'i — Duke  Wen 
of  Tsin — Prince  Chuang  of  Ch'u — the  age  of  the 
Philosophers — Lao  tsze — Taoism — Confucius — 
the  Five  King  and  the  Four  Shu — Mencius — 
Yang-chu — Mo-ti — Chwang  tsz — Fall  of  the  Chou 
dynasty. 

HTTAN  WANG.  The  grandson  of  Ping  Wang, 
Huan  Wang,  reigned  from  B.  C.  719  to  679,  but 
"tried  in  vain  to  assert  his  authority  among  the 
contending  states."  The  history  of  the  next  cen- 
tury, i.e.  from  B.  C.  685  to  591,  has  been  entitled 
the  period  of  the  Five  Leaders  because  it  exhibits 
the  rise  in  succession  to  power  of  the  five  States 
of  Ts'i,  Sung,  Tsin,  Ts'in  and  Ch'u. 

THE  FIVE  LEADERS.  The  five  great  princes 
who  represent  the  successive  periods  of  dominance 
are  as  follows: 

1.  Duke  Huan  of  Ts'i,  B.  C.  685-643,  whose 
fame  is  closely  bound  up  with  that  of  his  great 
Prime  Minister,  the  philosopher  Kwan  tsze,  or 

Kwan  Chung,  noteworthy  as  the  statesman-stat- 
58 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  59 

istician  who  obtained  a  revenue  for  his  master 
by  the  levying  of  taxes  upon  salt  and  iron.  The 
philosophical  work  on  government  and  legislation 
ascribed  to  Kwan  tsze  and  called  by  his  name 
is  now  generally  regarded  as  a  forgery  of  later 
times.  Kwan  tsze  deserves  mention  not  only  as 
an  economist  but  as  a  typical  Chinese  friend. 
The  story  of  Kwan  tsze  and  Pao  Shuh  corresponds 
in  China  to  the  Greek  story  of  Damon  and 
Pythias.  "My  parents,"  said  Kwan  tsze,  "gave 
me  birth  but  Pao  Shuh  alone  knows  my  feelings." 
Duke  Huan  was  for  thirty-nine  years  the 
undisputed  leader  among  the  feudal  chiefs  and  a 
successful  warrior  against  China's  foreign  foes. 
He  was  evidently  a  shrewd  judge  of  merit  as  is 
illustrated  in  the  story  of  how  he  raised  to  the 
position  of  one  of  his  chief  counselors  the  phil- 
osopher, Ning  Tsi,  whom  he  discovered  earning 
his  bread  as  a  wagoner.  The  Duke  also  appeals 
to  us  sympathetically  as  having  sent  back  to  her 
father  a  favorite  wife  who  persisted  in  rocking 
the  boat  in  which  they  were  one  day  amusing 
themselves  on  the  Lake.  In  his  last  illness  the 
great  chief  lay  neglected  whilst  his  sons  quarreled 
over  the  succession.  It  is  a  serious  indictment 
against  the  filial  piety  of  the  time  that  the  body 
of  the  dead  ruler  lay  for  months  unburied  and 
uncared  for  and  the  prestige  of  the  state  fell 
as  rapidly  as  it  had  risen. 

2.  Duke  Siang  of  Sung.     B.   C.   650-637. 

3.  Duke   Wen   of  Tsin,   B.C.   636-628,   who 


came  to  the  rulership  of  the  State  after  he  had 
declined  to  accept  the  position  on  terms  which 
appeared  to  him  dishonorable.  "Fugitive  as  I 
am,"  he  said,  "it  is  not  the  getting  of  the  State 
which  is  precious  in  my  sight,  but  the  maintenance 
of  my  benevolence  and  my  filial  piety."  On  his 
way  through  a  certain  district,  he  was  once  re- 
duced to  the  necessity  of  begging  for  food.  A 
churlish  fellow  offered  him  a  clod  of  earth.  The 
future  duke,  bowed,  accepted  the  clod  with  the 
remark,  "It  is  Heaven's  gift,  a  gift  of  the  soil, 
a  good  omen,"  *  and  took  it  along  with  him,  as 
hopefully  as  Duke  William  of  Normandy 
clutched  the  handful  of  sand  when  he  slipped 
upon  the  sea  beach  of  England.  Duke  Wen 
fought  a  great  battle  against  the  State  of  Ch'u 
in  B.  C.  632  and  died  four  years  after  his  victory. 

4.  Duke  Mu  of  Ts'in,  B.  C.  659-621. 

5.  Prince  Chuang  of  Ch'u,  B.  C.  613-591,  who 
with   success   became  audacious   and   sent  to   the 
Emperor  an  insolent  message  asking  the  size  and 
weight  of  the  Nine  Tripods  on  which  the  security 
of  the  Empire  was   said  to  depend.     The  reply 
of  the  Emperor,  Ting  Wang,  was  not  without  its 
dignity:     "When  virtue  is  brilliant,  the  tripods 
are    heavy ;    when    the    reverse,    they    are    light ; 
Heaven  blesses  intelligent  virtue ;  on  that  its  favor 
rests.     Though  the  virtue   of   Chou   is   decayed, 
the  decree  of  Heaven  is  not  yet  changed.     The 
weight    of    the    Tripods    may    not    be    enquired 
about." 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  61 

LAO-TSZE.  The  state  of  anarchy  and  confu- 
sion which,  it  is  apparent,  was  prevailing  at  this 
time  was  not  without  its  relief.  Doubtless  there 
were  many  happy  interludes  of  government  in 
the  various  states  such  as,  for  instance,  the  rule 
of  Tsze  Ch'an  who  from  B.  C.  584  to  571  ruled 
the  Duchy  of  Cheng  so  well  that  "the  doors  were 
not  locked  at  night  and  lost  articles  were  not 
picked  up  from  the  highways."  Moreover,  as 
some  compensation  for  the  political  infelicities  of 
the  age  we  find  in  this  very  period  of  disruption 
or  incohesion  some  of  the  greatest  personalities 
of  Chinese  history.  Of  these,  the  first  in  date  is 
the  somewhat  shadowy  figure  of  Lao-tsze,  the 
founder  of  Taoism.  The  name  Lao-tsze  may 
mean  either  "Aged  Boy,"  in  allusion  to  the  legend 
of  his  having  been  born  already  seventy  years  old 
and  with  white  hair,  or  else  "Old  Philosopher." 
His  personal  name  was  Li  (Plum  tree)  and  he 
was  born  about  B.  C.  604  in  the  State  of  Ch'u 
(the  present  provinces  of  Hu-peh  and  Hu-nan). 
Almost  nothing  is  known  of  his  life  and  some  re- 
gard the  whole  story  as  mythical.  He  is  said 
to  have  held  an  official  position  as  Keeper  of 
Archives  at  Loh  under  the  Duke  of  Chou.  The 
leading  idea  of  his  teaching  was  that  of  the 
mystic  and  quietist  and  was  so  diametrically  op- 
posed to  the  orthodox  Confucianism  that  it  is  no 
wonder  foreign  origin  has  been  suspected. 
There  was  never  any  very  clear  idea  in  China  as 
to  what  the  "Way"  precisely  was.  According  to 


Lao-tsze  himself,  "Those  who  know  do  not  tell; 
those  who  tell  do  not  know."  Confucius  says 
that  he  studied  the  Tao  for  twenty  years  and 
came  no  nearer  to  the  understanding  of  it.  The 
one  interview  which  legend  ascribes  to  the  two 
philosophers  is  said  to  have  resulted  in  mutual 
perplexity.  The  exponent  of  the  Way  seemed 
to  Confucius  to  be  "soaring  dragon-like  above 
the  clouds  to  Heaven."  Confucius  himself  was 
all  for  externals,  for  rules  of  propriety  and  the 
duties  of  the  "superior  man."  Lao-tsze  asserted 
that  "the  crow  does  not  become  black  through  be- 
ing painted  nor  the  pigeon  white  through  bath- 
ing." Lao-tsze  "anticipated  the  Christian  doc- 
trine of  returning  good  for  evil,  a  sentiment 
which  was  highly  reprobated  by  the  practical 
mind  of  Confucius,  who  declared  that  evil  should 
be  met  by  justice."  The  classic  of  Taoism  is 
known  as  the  Tao  Te  King,  or  "Classic  of  the 
Way."  It  is  in  all  probability  the  work  of  a 
later  age,  perhaps  of  the  2nd  Century  B.  C.,  but 
it  is  generally  regarded  as  containing  many  of 
the  sayings  of  Lao-tsze.  Such  are  the  following: 

"Keep  behind  and  you  shall  be  put  in  front.  Keep 
out  and  you  shall  be  put  in." 

"Mighty  is  he  who  conquers  himself." 

"He  who  is  conscious  of  being  strong  is  content  to 
be  weak." 

"He  who  is  content  has  enough." 

"To  the  good  I  would  be  good.  To  the  not-good 
also  I  would  be  good  in  order  to  make  them  good." 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  63 

"Recompense  injury  with  kindness." 
"Do  nothing  and  all  things  will  be  done." 
"The  weak  overcomes   the   strong;  the  soft  over- 
comes the  hard." 

Lao-tsze  passes  from  the  page  of  history  as 
mysteriously  as  he  enters.  He  is  said  to  have 
journeyed  to  the  West  and  is  represented  in 
Art  as  riding  on  an  ox,  or  in  a  car  drawn  by  blue 
(or  black)  oxen.  Yin  Hi,  the  keeper  of  the  gate 
at  the  frontier  pass,  warned  beforehand  in  a 
dream,  was  the  last  to  see  him  and  procured  from 
him  in  writing  the  philosophy  of  the  Tao. 

Lao-tsze's  chief  interpreter  was  Chwang  tsze,2 
who  lived  two  centuries  later  and  endeavored  to 
rescue  his  master's  name  from  oblivion.  The  pe- 
riod of  the  Tsin  dynasty  was  that  which  in  one 
sense  was  the  most  favorable  to  Taoism,  though 
from  another  point  of  view  it  led  to  so  much  cor- 
ruption that  some  have  even  distinguished  be- 
tween Laoism,  the  teaching  of  the  sage,  and 
Taoism,  the  later,  and  corrupt,  system.  During 
the  Tsin  dynasty  the  Emperor  was  wont  to  ex- 
pound Taoism  to  his  courtiers  and  caused  those 
who  yawned  to  be  executed.  Tsin  shih  Hwang 
Ti,  the  "Burner  of  the  Books,"  was  an  ardent 
Taoist  and  sent  a  famous  expedition  to  Japan 
in  search  of  the  Elixir  Vitce.  The  first  sovereign 
of  the  Han  dynasty  was  also  much  devoted  to  this 
faith  and  the  hierarchy  of  Taoist  Popes  dates 
from  about  this  time.  The  first  Pope  was  Chang 


Tao  ling  who  ascended  to  heaven  at  the  age  of 
123  from  the  Dragon  Tiger  Mountain  in  Kiang-s: 
on  which  his  descendants  have  ever  since  resided. 
"He  had  acquired  power  to  walk  among  the 
stars,  to  divide  mountains  and  seas,  to  command 
the  wind  and  the  thunder,  and  to  quell  demons." 
The  later  Taoism  received  from  Buddhism  the 
worst  of  that  system  as  it  imparted  to  Buddhism 
the  best  of  its  own.  It  is  now  little  but  a  system 
of  magic  and  charlatanry.  The  present  "Great 
Wizard"  or  Pope  is  employed  to  expel  evil  spir- 
its from  the  houses  of  the  wealthy.  "All  new 
gods  are  employed  by  the  Emperor  through  him, 
and  on  the  first  day  of  every  month  he  gives 
audience  to  an  invisible  host  of  gods  and  demi- 
gods who  come  to  present  their  compliments.3 
This  religion  was  bitterly  opposed  and  persecuted 
at  certain  periods,  notably  by  Kublai  Khan  in  the 
13th  Century., 

CONFUCIUS.  Confucius,  "the  sage  of  the  fam- 
ily Kung  in  the  State  of  Lu,"  was  a  little  junior 
to  Lao-tsze  and  the  representative  of  the  very  op- 
posite, and  characteristically  Chinese,  type  of 
philosophy.  Many  estimates  have  been  formed 
of  this  remarkable  man,  but  most  will  agree  with 
the  words  of  Von  der  Gabelentz:  "If  we  are  to 
measure  the  greatness  of  a  historic  personage,  I 
can  only  see  one  standard  applicable  for  the  pur- 
pose: the  effectiveness  of  that  person's  influence 
according  to  its  dimensions,  duration  and  in- 
tensity. If  this  standard  be  applied  Confucius 


LAO-TSZE 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  65 

was  one  of  the  greatest  of  men.  For  even  at  the 
present  day,  after  the  lapse  of  more  than  2,000 
years,  the  moral,  social,  and  political  life  of  about 
one-third  of  mankind  continues  to  be  under  the 
full  influence  of  his  mind." 

Of  course  Confucius  was,  to  a  large  extent, 
successful  because  he  systematized,  practiced  and 
taught  what  was  already  accepted  as  the  Chinese 
ideal.  He  himself  disclaimed  being  an  origina- 
tor: he  professed  himself  a  "transmitter."  Here 
we  can  only  give  the  main  facts  of  his  not  very 
eventful  life.  The  Kungs  of  Shan-tung  are  prob- 
ably the  oldest  nobility  on  earth,  being,  in  fact, 
the  only  hereditary  nobility  in  China  other  than 
royalty,  and,  strangely  enough,  the  descendants 
of  the  "Sea  quelling"  Duke,  the  famous  pirate 
Coxinga.  The  present  Duke  of  Kung  traces  his 
descent  back  seventy  generations.  Confucius, 
first  of  the  line,  was  born  B.  C.  551.  His  father 
was  a  soldier,  Shu-liang,  a  man  of  great  bravery 
and  strength,  who  distinguished  himself  at  the 
siege  of  Pi-yang  by  holding  open  the  port-cullis 
by  main  force  of  arms.  Shu-liang  was  seventy 
years  old,  with  a  family  of  nine  daughters  and 
one  crippled  son  when  he  married  the  mother  of 
Confucius.  The  birth  took  place  in  a  cave  of  Mt. 
Ni,  whither  the  woman  had  gone  on  pilgrimage. 
Hence  the  child's  name  Chung-Ni,  which  later  be- 
came Kung-fu-tsz  (Confucius).  The  father  died 
when  Confucius  was  three  years  old  and  he  was 
brought  up  by  his  mother  till  the  age  of  seven. 


66       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

He  was  early  distinguished  for  the  gravity  and 
formality  of  his  deportment,  and  a  familiar  story 
tells  of  his  playing  at  "rules  of  propriety"  with 
his  child  comrades.  At  school  he  soon  became  a 
monitor  and  remained  till  the  age  of  seventeen, 
when  he  accepted  an  under-Mandarinate,  the  in- 
spectorship of  the  sale  of  grains.  This  office  he 
filled  with  such  success  that  a  regular  agricultural 
school  was  the  result.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
married,  but  the  match  turned  out  unfortunately, 
and  the  wife  was  divorced  after  giving  birth  to  a 
son.  This  child  was  called  Li  (carp)  in  allusion 
to  a  present  of  fish4  received  that  day  from  the 
Duke  of  Lo.  Probably  Confucius  was  but  a  cold 
father,  as  he  had  been  a  cold  husband.  A  story 
tells  of  the  question  addressed  to  Li  by  a  disciple 
of  the  sage,  "Have  you  learned  any  lessons  from 
your  father  different  from  those  received  by  us?" 
The  young  man  replied  that  Confucius  had 
only  addressed  to  him  two  questions,  viz: — 
"Have  you  read  the  Odes?"  and  "Have  you 
studied  the  Rules  of  Propriety?"  From  this 
answer  the  questioner  deduced  that  the  "supe- 
rior man"  always  shows  reserve  towards  his 
children. 

For  a  time  Confucius  acted  as  Inspector  of 
Fields  and  Herds,  but  the  death  of  his  mother 
necessitated  a  three  years*  period  of  retirement 
which  the  sage  consecrated  to  study,  music  and 
archery.  Pie  then  became  a  teacher.  "At  thirty 
he  stood  firm,"  and  soon  after  had  three  thousand 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  67 

disciples  by  whom  he  was  deeply  reverenced.  Ac- 
cording to  his  own  account,  he  was  not  patient 
with  stupid  scholars,  but  expected  a  pupil,  when 
he  himself  had  lifted  one  corner  of  a  subject,  to 
lift  up  the  other  three. 

Raised  to  the  position  of  Minister  of  Crime,  he 
brought  about  notable  reforms,  insomuch  that  it 
is  told,  as  of  the  reign  of  King  Alfred  of  Eng- 
land, that  jewels  could  be  left  upon  the  highways 
and  remain  untouched.  The  Duke  and  his  people, 
however,  got  tired  of  the  moral  severity  of  the 
sage's  influence,  while  Confucius  himself,  not  un- 
reasonably, got  tired  of  the  inconsistencies  of  the 
Duke  and  his  court.  He  felt  occasionally  as 
much  out  of  place  as  Dante  at  Verona,  a  very 
"stray  dog,"  as  he  expresses  it.  In  the  Duke's 
progresses  he  said  that  it  was  a  case  of  "Vice  in 
front  and  virtue  behind."  Hence  he  retired  in 
despair,  seeking  a  new  sphere  for  politico-moral 
experiments  or  else  confining  himself  to  the  in- 
struction of  his  disciples.  He  died,  discouraged 
at  his  apparent  lack  of  success,  at  the  age  of 
seventy-two.  "The  great  mountain  must  crum- 
ble, the  strong  beam  must  break,  the  wise  man 
withers  away  like  a  plant."  He  was  buried  at 
Ku-fu-hing  where  his  grave  is  visited  by  multi- 
tudes of  pilgrims.5  Confucius  was  mourned  even 
by  those  who  had  despised  his  teaching.  His 
work  was  carried  on  by  others,  especially,  two 
centuries  later,  by  Mencius.  After  a  brief  pe- 
riod of  persecution  during  the  Tsin  Dynasty,  the 


68       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

influence  of  Confucianism  experienced  a  remark- 
able revival.  Confucius  was  made  Duke  and  Earl 
under  the  Han  Dynasty;  "Perfect  Sage"  in  the 
5th  Century  A.D. ;  King  (Wang)  under  the  T'ang 
Dynasty;  Emperor  (Hwang-ti)  under  the 
Sungs ;  while  the  Mings  and  Manchus  learned  to 
pay  him  reverence  under  the  title,  "Perfect  Sage, 
Ancient  Teacher."  This  is  not  the  place  to  de- 
scribe in  detail  the  principles  of  his  philosophy. 
The  effect  of  it  is  seen  in  the  Chinese  people  to- 
day. The  age-long  training  in  the  Five  Rela- 
tions, i.e.  the  proper  relation  of  Emperor  and 
Subject,  Father  and  Son,  Husband  and  Wife, 
Elder  Brother  and  Younger  Brother,  Friend  and 
Friend,  assimilated  even  the  barbarous  Mongols 
and  Manchus  to  Chinese  ideals.  Nevertheless, 
the  weaknesses  of  the  system  are  obvious,  its  ex- 
ternality, its  lack  of  emotional  power,  its  wrong 
theory  of  human  nature,6  its  narrow  theory  of 
life.  In  spite  of  all  this,  China  would  be  griev- 
ously lacking  in  gratitude  did  she  ever  consent 
to  give  up  her  reverence  for  so  pure  and  disin- 
terested a  teacher  of  righteousness.  His  grand- 
son wrote  the  following  impassioned  eulogy  which 
represents  not  unfairly  the  deliberate  estimate  of 
all  educated  China:  "His  fame  overflows  the 
Middle  Kingdom  and  reaches  the  barbarians  of 
north  and  south.  Wherever  ships  and  wagons 
can  go,  or  the  strength  of  man  penetrate ; 
wherever  there  is  heaven  above  and  earth  below; 
wherever  the  sun  and  moon  shed  their  light,  or 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  69 

frosts  or  dews  fall, — all  who  have  blood  and  breath 
honor  and  love  him.  Wherefore  it  may  be  said 
that  he  is  the  peer  of  God." 

THE  CONFUCIAN  CLASSICS  should  be  mentioned 
here,  although  an  adequate  account  of  them  could 
only  find  place  in  a  history  of  Chinese  literature 
or  philosophy.  Some  have  suggested  that  the 
books  which  come  under  this  head  are  all  elaborate 
forgeries,7  but  the  general  consensus  of  scholars 
is  in  favor  of  accepting  the  genuineness  of  nine 
works. 

These  are  divided  into  the  two  classes,  the  Five 
King  and  the  Four  Shu,  which  have  sometimes 
been  described  as  respectively  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  of  Chinese  sacred  literature. 

The  Five  King  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  Shu  King,  or  Book  of  History,  con- 
sisting of  fragmentary  records  of  events  extend- 
ing from  the  time  of  Yao  and  Shun,  B.  C.  2400, 
down  to  B.  C.  619. 

£.  The  Shi  King,  or  Book  of  Odes,  a  collec- 
tion of  305  poems,  sacrificial,  lyrical  and  miscel- 
laneous. Five  of  them  go  back  to  the  time  of 
the  Shang  Dynasty,  B.  C.  1800,  while  the  remain- 
ing 300  belong  to  the  times  of  the  Chou. 

3.  The  Yi  King,  or  Book  of  Changes,  the 
elaborated  interpretation  of  the  Sixty-four  Hexa- 
grams ascribed  to  Wen  Wang  and  the  Duke  of 
Chou.  It  is  a  detailed  application,  by  means  of 
the  Hexagrams,  of  the  old  Chinese  philosophy 
of  Whole  and  Broken  lines,  the  Yang  and  the  Yin, 


70       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

the  Bright  and  the  Dark,  the  Male  and  the  Fe- 
male, Active  and  Passive,  Odd  and  Even,  Strong 
and  Weak.8 

4.  The  Li  Ki,  or  Book  of  Rites,  the  "Vade 
Mecum"  of  "the  superior  man,"  the  text-book  of 
the  Board  of  Rites. 

5.  Ch'un  Ts'iu,  or  "Spring  and  Autumn  An- 
nals," the  history  of  the  State  of  Lu  for  a  pe- 
riod of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  years.9 

The  Four  Shu  are  these : 

1.  Lun  Yu,  or  the  Analects,  consisting  of  dia- 
logues  of  Confucius   with  his  disciples,  remarks 
on  government,  virtue,  etc.10 

2.  Tai  Hiau,  or  "the  Great  Learning,"  con- 
taining the  detailed  analysis  of  the  process  by 
means  of  which  man  becomes,  first  the  Sage,  then 
the   Ruler.     This    is    an   exceedingly    interesting 
little  outline  of  Confucian  ethics  which  has  had 
extraordinary  influence  on  the  molding  of  Chinese 
character. 

3.  Chung  Yung,  or  the  Doctrine  of  the  Mean, 
compiled  by  Kung  Ki,  the  grandson  of  the  Sage, 
of  whose  tenets  he  was  one  of  the  most  enthusi- 
astic  exponents. 

4.  Mencius.     The  sayings  of  the  philosopher 
of  that  name. 

AFTER  CONFUCIUS.  From  the  4th  Century 
B.  C.  onwards  we  have  a  great  deal  of  light 
thrown  upon  Chinese  history  in  the  work  of  Sze 
Ma  Kiang,  the  historian  of  the  llth  century 
A.  D.  It  has  been  made  accessible,  so  far  as  its 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  71 

material  parts  are  concerned,  for  foreigners  in 
the  great  work  of  Father  de  Maille. 

The  story  told  makes  it  quite  apparent  that 
the  last  days  of  the  Chou  dynasty  were  at  this 
time  approaching  and  that  there  was  a  general 
weakening  of  the  central  Government  in  its  rela- 
tion to  the  many  contending  States,  amongst 
which  the  State  of  Tsin,  with  its  foreign  ele- 
ments of  race  and  culture,  was  the  most  con- 
spicuous. The  puppet  Emperors  of  the  period 
have  for  us  little  or  no  interest  and  may  be  dis- 
missed with  scant  notice.  But,  by  way  of  com- 
pensation, there  are  three  or  four  philosophers 
on  account  of  whom  the  period  is  not  only  inter- 
esting but  quite  important. 

MENCIUS.  First  of  all  there  is  the  great  apos- 
tle of  Confucianism,  Meng-ko,  whose  name  is  most 
familiar  to  us  in  its  Latinized  form  as  Mencius. 
He  was  the  contemporary  of  Plato,  born  in  the 
province  of  Shan-tung,  not  far  from  the  birth- 
place of  his  illustrious  master.  His  mother  is  the 
model  Chinese  mother,  so  solicitous  for  her  son's 
welfare  that  she  moved  her  residence  from  time  to 
time  in  order  to  avoid  a  dangerous  moral  environ- 
ment. From  the  neighborhood  of  a  cemetery  she 
moved  to  prevent  her  little  son  from  mimicking 
the  mourners  ;  from  the  neighborhood  of  a  slaugh- 
ter house  she  moved  again  to  stop  him  from  imi- 
tating the  cries  of  the  slaughtered  animals ;  from 
a  house  near  the  market  to  avoid  his  acquiring 
the  manners  of  the  trading  classes;  and  so  on 


72       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

until  by  design  or  chance,  she  settled  upon  the 
vicinity  of  a  school.  This  proved  so  satisfactory 
on  either  side  that  no  further  move  was  required. 
"At  a  later  period,"  says  Mayers,  "she  destroyed 
with  a  knife  a  web  of  cloth  on  which  she  was  en- 
gaged as  a  practical  lesson  to  her  son  who  showed 
a  disposition  to  trifle  in  his  studies."  The  fa- 
mous woman  was,  as  we  might  expect,  highly 
reverenced  by  Mencius  and,  when  she  died,  he 
gave  her  a  most  sumptuous  funeral.  The  philos- 
opher was  a  great  political  economist,  and  his 
teachings  were  of  a  most  democratic  character. 
He  taught  that  of  the  three  objects  of  regard, 
the  gods,  the  Emperor  and  the  people,  the  people 
came  first,  the  gods  second  and  the  Emperor  only 
third.  He  defended,  consequently,  the  right  of 
the  people  to  rebel,  saying:  "When  the  prince 
is  guilty  of  great  errors,  the  minister  should  re- 
prove him;  if,  after  doing  so  again  and  again, 
he  does  not  listen,  he  should  dethrone  him  and 
put  another  in  his  place."  "He  who  gains  the 
hearts  of  the  people,"  he  said  again,  "secures  the 
throne,  and  he  who  loses  the  people's  heart,  loses 
the  throne."  Mencius  insistently  urged  upon 
rulers  the  benevolent  administration  of  their 
realms.  Provided,  he  said,  taxes  were  light  and 
government  just,  the  nation  would  need  no  army 
of  mailed  warriors  but  would  be  able  to  beat  off 
their  foreign  enemies  "with  mere  sticks  in  their 
hands."  He  is  regarded  as  the  leading  advocate, 
if  not  the  author,  of  the  "tsing"  system,  whereby 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  73 

land  was  divided  into  nine  portions  by  lines  re- 
sembling the  ideograph  "tsing."  The  eight  out- 
side divisions  were  cultivated  by  individual  own- 
ers for  their  own  profit ;  the  middle  portion  was 
cultivated  jointly  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 
Mencius  lived  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life 
in  retirement  and  died  B.  C.  289  in  his  84th  year. 

YANG  CHU.  A  philosopher  of  a  quite  differ- 
erent  type  was  Yang  Chu  or  Lie-tsze  (Latinized 
as  Licius).  He  is  the  Chinese  Qoheleth,  the  pes- 
simist Epicurean  who  followed  his  inclination  and 
sought  happiness  in  pleasure.  Yet  he  taught  at 
the  same  time  that  life  was  not  worth  the  living 
and  that  after  death  comes  nothing.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  note  that  Epicurus,  with  whom  in 
many  respects  he  agrees,  was  his  contemporary. 
As  was  natural  Yang  Chu  and  Mencius  were  life- 
long adversaries. 

MO-TI,  or  Micius,  was  of  still  another  order. 
The  two  men,  says  Legge  (alluding  to  Mo-ti  and 
Yang  Chu),  "stood  at  opposite  poles  of  human 
thought  and  sentiment."  Mo-ti  is  the  altruist, 
the  teacher  of  the  principle  that  "all  evils  arise 
from  lack  of  mutual  love."  He  too  was  opposed 
to,  and  by,  Mencius. 

CHWANG  TSZE.  At  this  time  too  lived  the  great 
interpreter  of  Taoism,  Chwang  tsze,  who  has  al- 
ready been  alluded  to.  But  for  the  dominance 
of  Confucianism  at  this  time,  his  reputation 
would  probably  have  stood  higher  than  was  ac- 
tually the  case.  He  plainly  reflects  in  his  writ- 


74       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

ings,  which  have  much  charm,  an  Indian  influence, 
as  in  the  closing  lines  of  his  poem  on  "Peaceful 
Old  Age." 

"Thus  strong  in  faith  I  wait,  and  long  to  be 
One  with  the  pulsings  of  Eternity." 

.  Chwang  tsze  mingled  wit  with  his  philosophy 
and  humility  with  both.  The  following  story  is 
a  good  illustration: 

"Chwang  tsze  was  fishing  in  the  P'u  when  the 
Prince  of  Ch'u  sent  two  high  officials  to  ask  him 
to  take  charge  of  the  administration  of  the  Ch'u 
State.  Chwang  tsze  went  on  fishing,  and,  with- 
out turning  his  head,  said:  'I  have  heard  that 
in  Ch'u  there  is  a  sacred  tortoise  which  has  been 
dead  now  some  three  thousand  years,  and  that 
the  Prince  keeps  this  tortoise  carefully  enclosed 
in  a  chest  on  the  altar  of  his  ancestral  temple. 
Now,  would  this  tortoise  rather  be  dead  and  have 
its  remains  venerated,  or  be  alive  and  wagging  its 
tail  in  the  mud?' 

"  'It  would  rather  be  alive,'  replied  the  two  of- 
ficials, 'and  wagging  its  tail  in  the  mud.' 

"  'Begone !'  cried  Chwang  tsze,  'I  too  will  wag 
my  tail  in  the  mud.'  "  n 

He  forbade  his  followers  to  give  his  body 
burial,  saying,  "I  will  have  Heaven  and  Earth 
for  my  sarcophagus ;  the  sun  and  moon  shall  be 
the  insignia  where  I  lie  in  state,  and  all  creation 
shall  be  mourners  at  my  funeral." 


THE  CHOU  DYNASTY  75 

THE  STORY  OF  CHU  YUAN.  The  corruption  of 
the  times  and  the  despair  of  good  men  is  illus- 
trated by  the  story  of  the  loyal  minister,  Chu 
Yuan,  who  wrote  his  allegorical  poem,  "Falling 
into  Trouble"  to  describe  the  search  for  a  prince 
who  might  be  induced  to  give  heed  to  counsels  of 
good  government.  Driven  at  last  to  despair  by 
the  successful  intrigues  of  his  rivals,  he  went  to 
the  river  to  commit  suicide.  "All  the  world,"  he 
said,  "is  foul  and  I  am  clean."  "The  true  sage," 
replied  the  fisherman,  "does  not  quarrel  with  his 
environment.  If  the  world  is  foul  why  not  leap 
into  it  and  make  it  clean."  But  Chu  Yuan,  clasp- 
ing a  big  stone,  leaped  instead  into  the  river,  and 
the  Dragon  Festival  which  takes  place  every  year 
on  the  5th  day  of  the  5th  month,  is  said  to  repre- 
sent the  search  for  his  body. 

Su  TS'IN.  From  the  middle  of  the  4th  Century 
it  was  becoming  difficult  to  hold  the  States  to- 
gether against  the  constantly  growing  menace  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Tsin.  One  man  indeed  in  this 
turbulent  epoch  deserves  mention  for  his  efforts 
to  this  end,  namely,  the  statesman  Su  Ts'in,  who 
in  B.  C.  833  actually  succeeded  in  forming  a 
league  of  the  six  States  of  Yen,  Chao,  Han,  Wei, 
Ts'i  and  Ts'u.  For  a  while  he  managed  the  con- 
federation successfully,  moving  from  court  to 
court  to  impart  backbone  to  the  respective 
princes.  But  internal  intrigue  nullified  his  efforts 
and  he  was  assassinated.  He  is  famous  as  the  au- 
thor of  the  saying:  "It  is  better  to  be  a  fowl's 


76       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

beak  than  the  hinder  part  of  an  ox."  After  his 
death  war  broke  out  between  the  States  and  made 
the  success  of  the  Tsins  certain.  In  an  encoun- 
ter between  the  forces  of  Yen  and  those  of  Ts'i, 
a  hero  of  the  latter  state  more  than  emulated  the 
Biblical  story  of  Samson  and  the  foxes.  He  col- 
lected a  host  of  oxen,  tied  swords  to  their  horns 
and  bunches  of  greased  reeds  to  their  tails  and 
drove  them  against  the  enemy  who  were  routed 
in  great  confusion. 

NAN  WANG.  B.C.  314-256.  The  last  mon- 
arch of  the  Chou  dynasty  was  Nan  Wang,  who 
reigned  nearly  sixty  years,  during  which  time  he 
vainly  tried  by  means  of  alliances  of  various  kinds 
to  stem  the  successful  career  of  the  State  of  Tsin. 
Victory  after  victory  marked  the  slow  but  sure 
advance  of  the  enemy  and  Nan  Wang  died  just 
in  time  to  avoid  witnessing  the  spectacle  of  the 
once  mighty  house  of  Chou  crumbling  into  ruins. 
The  regent  whom  he  left  in  charge  was  made 
prisoner  and  the  Nine  Tripods  of  Yu  captured. 

A  short  period  of  interregnum  or  anarchy  fol- 
lowed and  then  the  destinies  of  China  passed  into 
the  keeping  of  the  short-lived  but  glorious  Dy- 
nasty of  Tsin. 


NOTES 

1.  Legge,   quoted   by   Hirth,   "Ancient   History," 
p.  213. 

2.  For    a    good    account    of     Chwang    tsze,     or 
Chwang  Chow,  as  he  is  sometimes  called,  see  "Mus- 
ings   of    a    Chinese    Mystic,"    with    Introduction    by 
Lionel  Giles,  1908. 

3.  See  Brinkley's  "China,"  "Propaganda  and  Re- 
ligions." 

4.  The  Carp,  as  in  Japan,  is  the  boy's  festival 
emblem.     "The  idea  is   that   as   the  carp   swims  up 
the  river  against  the  current,  so  will  the  sturdy  boy, 
overcoming  all  obstacles,  make  his  way  in  the  world, 
and     rise     to     fame     and     fortune."     Chamberlain, 
"Things  Japanese,"  p.  93. 

5.  For    a    good    description    of   the    Temple    and 
Tomb  read  Brown's  "New  Forces  in  Old  China,"  pp. 
65  ff. 

6.  Cf.  teaching  of  Pelagius  and  Rousseau.     The 
first   phrase    of   the    "Three    Character   Classics"   is 
"Man  is  by  nature  good." 

7.  H.  J.  Allen,  "Early  Chinese  History,"   1906. 

8.  Read    Introduction   to   Legge's   Translation   of 
the  "Yi-King"  in  the  "Sacred  Books  of  the  East." 

9.  For  samples  of  this  history  see  R.  K.  Douglas, 
"The  Literature  of  China." 

10.  See  "The  Sayings  of  Confucius,"  with  Intro- 
duction by  Lionel  Giles,  1908. 

11.  "Musings  of  a  Chinese  Mystic,"  p.  109. 

77 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  TSIN  DYNASTY 

B.C.   249-210. 

Chiang  Siang  Wang — Tsin-shih-hwang-ti — the 
Great  Wall — the  "Burning  of  the  Books" — Tao- 
ist  propaganda — the  end  of  the  dynasty. 

CHIANG  SIANG  WANG.  The  history  of  the 
State  of  Tsin  slides  almost  insensibly  into  that 
of  the  Imperial  Tsin  Dynasty.  Chao  Siang 
Wang,  who  had  reigned  fifty-two  years  over  the 
State  of  Tsin,  died  and  left  the  succession  to 
Hiao  Wen  Wang.  After  a  reign  of  but  three 
days  this  ruler  (if  we  venture  to  give  him  the  ti- 
tle) died,  yielding  up  his  scarcely  occupied  throne 
to  Prince  /  Jen,  who  took  the  name  of  Chiang 
Siang  Wang.  The  chief  minister  of  this  sover- 
eign was  a  former  traveling  merchant  of  the  name 
of  Lu-pu-wei  who  became  known,  first  as  literatus 
and  then  as  counselor.  As  literatus  he  had  such 
confidence  in  his  own  ability  that  he  suspended  a 
thousand  pieces  of  gold  at  the  gates  of  his  house 
as  a  reward  to  any  person  who  could  better  his 
composition  by  the  addition  or  omission  of  a 

single  word.     Such  a  temptation,  hardly  to  be  re- 

78 


THE  TSIN  DYNASTY  79 

sisted  by  any  modern  critic,  apparently  fell  in 
the  way  of  no  literary  opponent.  As  minister 
Lu-pu-wei  betrayed  his  master's  confidence  by  an 
intrigue  with  the  Queen  which  resulted  in  the  birth 
of  the  Prince  Cheng,  afterwards  the  famous  First 
Emperor.  Chwang  banished  his  minister  but 
adopted  the  boy,  who  was  left  to  fill  the  throne, 
made  vacant  by  his  adopted  father's  death,  at 
the  age  of  thirteen.  The  uncertainty  about  his 
birth  continued  to  be  a  stumbling  block  to  some, 
and  later  on  became  a  convenient  tool  for  his 
enemies  and  detractors.  It  makes  no  difference 
to  the  real  greatness  of  "the  Napoleon  of  China." 
TSIN  SHIH  HWANG  xi.  About  a  generation  be- 
fore the  end  of  the  Chou  dynasty  a  certain  poli- 
tician was  advising  one  of  the  feudal  Kings  to 
make  peace  with  another  with  whom  he  was  then 
engaged  in  hostilities.  "I  saw  this  morning," 
he  said,  "on  the  beach  a  mussel  open  its  shell  to 
sun  itself.  Immediately  an  oyster  catcher  thrust 
in  its  bill  and  as  promptly  the  mussel  closed  its 
shell  and  held  the  bird  fast.  'If  it  doesn't  rain 
soon,'  said  the  oyster  catcher,  'there  will  be  a 
dead  mussel.'  'And,'  replied  the  mussel,  'if  you 
don't  get  out  of  this  soon  there  will  be  a 
dead  oyster  catcher.*  Meanwhile  up  came 
a  fisherman  and  caught  them  both."  "I 
greatly  fear,"  added  the  politician,  "that  the 
Tsin  state  will  be  our  fisherman."  The  fear 
proved  only  too  well  grounded.  In  Tsin 
shih  hwang  ti  China  found  a  ruler  who  had  the 


80       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

Imperial  idea  beyond  any  of  his  predecessors. 
Beyond  the  doubt  as  to  the  legitimacy  of  his  birth 
there  is  something  puzzling  about  his  racial  affin- 
ity. The  theory  has  even  been  ventured  that  he 
was  in  some  way  connected  with  that  Mauryan 
dynasty  which  at  this  very  time  was  ruling  in 
India  in  the  person  of  Asoka.  The  latter  was 
successfully  achieving  in  India  what  Shih  hwang 
ti  attempted  to  accomplish  in  China,  even  to  the 
religious  revolution  which  accompanied  the  con- 
solidation of  the  Empire.  It  would  be  strange 
indeed  could  we  but  accept  this  theory  as  proven, 
but  all  that  can  be  said  here  is  that  the  portrait 
of  the  first  great  Chinese  Emperor  presents  some 
striking  contrasts  to  the  usual  Chinese  type.  In 
any  case,  as  we  have  said  above,  his  greatness  is 
incontestable,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Con- 
fucian literati  endeavored  to  do  for  him  by  abuse 
what  the  Brahmins  succeeded  in  doing  for  Asoka 
by  ten  centuries  of  silence.  They  called  him 
bastard,  debauchee  and  fool,  but  they  cannot 
blind  us  to  the  tremendous  importance  of  the 
work  he  did. 

THE  FIRST  EMPEROR.  Three  special  claims  to 
distinction  must  be  conceded  to  Tsin  shih  hwang 
ti.  The  first  of  these  is  in  the  use  of  the 
name  China  as  a  designation  for  the  whole  coun- 
try. While  not  certain,  it  is  in  the  highest  de- 
gree probable,  that  it  was  on  account  of  the  pres- 
tige of  the  first  Emperor's  name  and  state  that 
the  use  of  the  term  China  came  about.  In  any 


THE  TSIN  DYNASTY  81 

case,  Tsin  shih  hwang  ti  was  the  country's  first 
real  conqueror,  going  about  the  matter  deliber- 
ately and  accomplishing  his  aim  thoroughly. 
The  two  great  generals  whose  assistance  was 
most  helpful  were  Wang  Tsien  and  Li  Sin.  The 
former  subdued  the  state  of  Cliao  in  B.  C.  229  and 
was  then  ordered  to  proceed  to  the  subjugation 
of  T'su.  He  demanded  an  army  of  600,000  men 
for  the  task,  but  Li  Sin,  his  rival,  offered  to  do  it 
with  only  200,000  and  was,  consequently,  badly 
defeated.  Wang  Tsien  then  gained  his  point,  col- 
lected the  largest  army  China  had  ever  seen  and, 
wearing  out  his  adversary  through  his  Fabian 
tactics,  brought  the  campaign  to  a  successful 
conclusion  in  B.  C.  222.  By  B.  C.  221  the  Em- 
peror was  master  of  all  China  and  assumed  the 
title  of  Shih  hwang  ti,  or  -first  Emperor,  pro- 
claiming that  all  his  successors  should  date  their 
reigns  from  his  and  be  known  as  Second,  Third, 
and  so  on,  "even  to  the  ten  thousandth  genera- 
tion." Alas !  for  the  vanity  of  human  pride ! 

THE  BUILDING  OF  THE  GREAT  WALL.  This 
stupendous  rampart  was  built,  from  the  Liao- 
tung  Gulf  to  the  western  extremity  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Shen-si,  in  pursuance  of  the  policy  of 
protecting  the  northern  boundary  from  the  Ta- 
tars. The  enterprise  necessitated  the  labors  of 
tens  of  thousands  of  men  for  many  years,  al- 
though in  some  places  the  work  was  limited  to 
connecting  portions  of  already  existing  walls. 
The  general  in  charge  was  Meng  Tien  who,  on 


82       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

the  death  of  his  master  and  the  murder  of  his 
successor,  committed  suicide.  It  is  strange  that 
to  this  famous  builder  of  the  Great  Wall  of  China 
should  be  also  assigned  the  invention  of  the  hair 
brush  used  for  writing.  Huge  as  the  work  of 
constructing  the  Great  Wall  undoubtedly  was,  it 
was  only  one  portion  of  a  general  plan  for  con- 
necting the  various  parts  of  the  Empire  with 
good  roads  and  so  making  the  defense  more  prac- 
tical than  it  had  hitherto  been.  Indeed,  one's 
admiration  of  the  Wall  is  even  excelled  by  the 
feeling  of  wonder  at  the  many  other  great  engi- 
neering undertakings,  the  piercing  of  mountains, 
the  leveling  of  hills,  the  bridging  of  rivers,  by 
means  of  which  the  conquests  of  Tsin  shih  hwang 
ti  were  made  secure  and  the  imperial  unity  con- 
solidated. Other  notable  works  include  the  erec- 
tion of  the  great  palace  of  A-Fong  Kung,  near 
Hien-yang,  on  which  it  is  said  700,000  criminals 
and  prisoners  were  employed  at  forced  labor. 
"The  central  hall  was  of  such  dimensions  that  ten 
thousand  persons  could  be  assembled  within  it  and 
banners  sixty  feet  in  height  might  be  unfurled 
below."  Another  was  the  building  of  the  many 
storied  tower  in  the  province  of  Shan-tung,  over- 
topping the  hills  and  commanding  an  extensive 
view  of  the  Eastern  Sea. 

THE  BURNING  OF  THE  BOOKS.  The  real  rea- 
son for  the  destruction  of  the  Confucian  books 
and  for  the  persecution  of  the  literati  may  never 
be  known,  as  the  accounts  which  have  survived 


THE  TSIN  DYNASTY  83 

contradict  one  another.  Some  say  that  the  Con- 
fucianists  reproved  the  Emperor  for  unfilial  con- 
duct in  the  banishment  of  his  mother.  Others 
assert  that  it  was  the  Emperor's  ambition  to  be 
known  as  the  originator  of  all  that  was  great 
in  Chinese  history  and  wanted  no  prior  records 
in  his  way.  A  quite  plausible  account,  given  by 
the  historian  Sze  ma  tshien  relates  that  a  certain 
Minister  of  learning  reproaching  the  Emperor 
for  breaking  down  the  feudal  system,  Li  Sze 
(known  as  the  inventor  of  the  Lesser  Seal l  style 
of  writing)  sprang  to  the  defense  and  warmly 
advocated  the  destruction  of  everything  which 
belonged  to  the  past  as  a  policy  which  would 
stimulate  the  progress  of  the  Empire.  We  may 
well  conceive  that  the  brilliant  conqueror  found 
the  Confucian  system  rather  too  inelastic  for  his 
own  grandiose  and  imperial  projects  and  that 
he  was  genuinely  glad  to  find  an  excuse  for  rid- 
ding himself  of  the  "dead  hand"  of  the  great 
Sage  and  of  the  precedents  furnished  by  the 
"Model  Emperors."  In  any  event,  his  procedure 
was  sufficiently  sweeping.  The  Confucian  Clas- 
sics (with  the  single  exception  of  the  Yi-King) 
and  all  other  literature  (with  the  exception  of 
works  on  agriculture,  medicine  and  divination) 
were  so  thoroughly  destroyed  that  when  the  Han 
dynasty  assumed  the  task  of  reviving  the  old  stud- 
ies, copies  of  the  classics  were  with  difficulty  dis- 
covered in  the  walls  of  houses,  or  reintegrated 
from  the  memories  of  men.  It  is  said  that  Kung 


84-       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

Fu,  a  descendant  of  Confucius  in  the  ninth  de- 
gree, was  one  who  had  preserved  hidden  in  the 
walls  of  the  ancestral  house  copies  of  the  old 
books.  But,  as  observed  above,  it  has  been  possi- 
ble in  our  own  day  for  writers  to  deny  the  very 
existence  of  the  Confucian  classics  prior  to  the 
time  of  the  historian  Sze  ma  tshien  who  is 
charged  with  having  forged  them.  The  literati 
shared  with  the  books  the  wrath  of  the  tyrant 
and  some  hundreds  of  them  (four  hundred  and 
sixty,  to  be  precise)  are  said  to  have  been  put 
to  death  under  circumstances  of  such  revolting 
cruelty  that  the  Emperor's  own  eldest  son  felt 
compelled  to  protest.  For  this  interposition  he 
was  banished  and  all  those  who  resisted  the  sur- 
render of  their  books  were  branded  and  forced  to 
work  for  four  years  on  the  Great  Wall. 

TAOIST  PROPAGANDA.  The  persecution  of  Con- 
fucianism went  hand  in  hand  with  an  ardent  ad- 
vocacy of  Taoism.  Shih  Hwang  Ti's  belief  in 
this  religion  was  perhaps  in  large  part  the  re- 
sult of  his  desire  to  obtain  the  coveted  Elixir 
Vita?,  but  a  whole  mass  of  more  or  less  interesting 
fable  has  associated  itself  with  the  Emperor's  de- 
votion to  the  cult,  now  far  removed  from  its  first 
purity.  It  is  of  this  reign  that  the  story  is 
told  of  the  Taoist  Rip  Van  Winkle  which  bears 
so  close  a  resemblance  to  the  American  version 
that  it  may  be  worth  the  re-telling.  It  concerns 
the  patriarch  Wang  Chih  who  having  wandered 
in  the  mountains  of  K'u  Chow  to  gather  firewood 


THE  TSIN  DYNASTY  85 

entered  a  grotto  in  which  some  aged  men  were 
seated  intent  upon  a  game  of  chess.  He  laid  down 
his  ax  and  looked  on  at  their  game,  in  course  of 
which  one  of  the  men  handed  to  him  a  thing  in 
shape  and  size  like  a  date-stone,  telling  him  to 
put  it  in  his  mouth.  No  sooner  had  he  tasted  it 
than  he  became  oblivious  of  hunger  and  thirst! 
After  some  time  had  elapsed,  one  of  the  players 
said:  "It  is  long  since  you  came  here;  you 
should  go  home  now!'*  Whereupon,  Wang  Chih, 
proceeding  to  pick  up  his  ax,  found  that  its 
handle  had  moldered  into  dust.  On  repairing  to 
his  home  he  found  that  centuries  had  passed  since 
the  time  when  he  had  left  it  for  the  mountains  and 
that  no  vestige  of  his  kinsfolk  remained.2 

Another  Taoist  patriarch,  An  Ki  Sheng,  vis- 
ited the  Emperor  B.  C.  221  and  conversed  with 
him  for  three  days  and  three  nights.  The  result 
of  the  interview  was  the  sending  of  the  famous 
expedition  to  the  Eastern  seas. 

"THE  ISLES  OF  THE  BLEST."  Tsin  Shih 
Hwang  ti  "allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  into 
the  belief  that  in  the  Eastern  sea  there  were 
golden  Islands  of  the  Blest,  where  dwelt  genii, 
whose  business  and  delight  it  was  to  dispense  to 
all  visitors  to  their  shores  a  draught  of  immor- 
tality compounded  of  the  fragrant  herbs  which 
grew  in  profusion  around  them." 3  Twice  over 
was  an  expedition  dispatched  to  discover  these 
"Isles  of  the  Blest."  Su  She  and  Lu  Ngao,  Taoist 
magicians,  were  put  in  command  and  several  thou- 


86       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

sands  of  girls  and  young  men  accompanied  the 
explorers.  Both  attempts,  however,  ended  in  fail- 
ure. The  expeditions  were,  it  is  said,  driven  back 
by  contrary  winds,  though  it  is  highly  probable 
that  Japan  benefited  by  some  access  of  popula- 
tion. So  great  a  monarch  as  Shih  Hwang  ti  may 
well  have  feared  the  shadow  of  death  and  craved 
a  few  more  years  in  which  to  continue  his  work, 
but  "le  breuvage  de  Pimmortalite"  was  not  for 
him,  and  he  died  B.  C.  210.  Many  of  his  wives 
and  many  of  his  warriors,  in  accordance  with  the 
old  Scythian  custom,  were  buried  alive  near  his 
tomb  that  he,  who  had  employed  so  many  on  earth, 
might  not  want  his  servants  in  the  grave. 

THE  TOMB  OF  SHIH  HWANG  TI.  Of  this  tomb, 
excavated  in  a  mountain,  we  have  the  following 
account:  "Upon  the  floor,  which  had  a  founda- 
tion of  bronze,  was  a  map  of  the  Empire  with 
rivers  of  quicksilver;  the  roof  was  studded  with 
the  constellations.  All  around  were  mechanical 
arrangements  for  shooting  stones  and  arrows  im- 
mediately upon  the  appearance  of  any  intruders ; 
while  huge  candles  of  seal's  fat,  calculated  to 
burn  for  an  indefinite  period,  threw  their  light 
upon  the  scene.  When  the  passages  leading  to 
the  chamber  had  been  stopped  up,  and  before  the 
workmen  who  knew  the  secrets  had  come  forth, 
the  great  outer  gate  was  dropped,  and  they  were 
all  buried  alive.  The  entrance  was  banked  up 
with  earth,  and  grass  and  plants  were  sown  to 
conceal  it  from  view." 4 


THE  TSIN  DYNASTY  87 

END  OF  THE  DYNASTY.  The  close  of  the  Tsin 
dynasty  came  almost  simultaneously  with  the 
death  of  Tsin  shih  hwang  ti.  The  elder  and 
stronger  minded  son,  Fu  Su,  had  been  banished 
as  a  result  of  his  protest  against  the  massacre  of 
the  literati.  The  younger  son,  Hu  Hai,  was  un- 
der the  influence  of  an  ambitious  and  masterful 
eunuch,  Chao  Kao,  who  weeded  out  the  more  in- 
dependent and  capable  advisers  by  a  device  sug- 
gestive of  Polonius.5  He  would  present  a  stag 
to  the  Emperor  and  say,  "Here  is  a  horse."  If 
any  of  the  ministers  said  it  was  anything  but  a 
horse,  their  disgrace  was  sealed.  "It  is  certainly 
a  horse,"  said  the  weak  and  complaisant  ones, 
and  these  remained.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the 
young  Emperor,  trained  under  such  auspices  as 
these,  proved  an  easy  victim  to  the  wiles  of  the  un- 
scrupulous eunuch.  Chao  Kao,  however,  met  his 
own  fate  soon  afterwards  and  Hu  Hai's  sem- 
blance of  power  only  lasted  three  years.  Anarchy 
followed;  even  the  wonderful  tomb  of  the  great 
conqueror  was  desecrated  and  destroyed.  The 
secret  chambers  were  rifled  and  the  fine  buildings 
razed  to  the  ground  by  the  general  Hiang-yu. 
Nothing  was  left  but  the  coffin  and  even  this  was 
shortly  after  burned,  when  a  shepherd,  seeking 
a  lost  sheep,  dropped  by  accident  his  torch  in 
the  cavern  and  set  fire  to  the  dry  and  crumbling 
ruins  which  had  been  left.  "Sic  transit  gloria 
mundi." 


NOTES 

1.  The  Lesser  Seal,  or  Siau  Chwen,  character  was 
a  modification  of  the  Great  Seal  character  which  was 
so  called  because  of  its  suitability  for  engraving  on 
seals.     The    Lesser   Seal   endeavors    to   diminish   the 
number  of  strokes  and  makes  the  writing  simpler  and 
more  rapid.     "The  change/'  says  Dr.  Edkins,  "was 
easily   accomplished    under   an   arbitrary   and    strong 
government  such  as  China  then  had." 

2.  "Chinese  Reader's  Manual,"  p.  256. 

3.  R.  K.  Douglas. 

4.  Giles,    "Chinese    Biographical    Dictionary,"    p. 
653. 

5.  "Hamlet.     Do  you  see  that  cloud,  that's  almost 

in  shape  of  a  camel? 
Polonius.     By  the  mass,  and  'tis  like  a  camel 

indeed. 

Ham.     Methinks,  it  is  like  a  weasel. 
Pol.     It  is  backed  like  a  weasel. 
Ham.     Or  like  a  whale? 
Pol.     Very  like  a  whale." 

Hamlet,  Act  III,  Sc.  2. 


88 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  HAN  DYNASTY 

B.  C.  210— A.  D.  220. 

Kao  Tsu — Lu  How — Wu  Ti — Expansion  of 
the  Empire — a  description  from  Sze  Ma  Tshien 
— the  revival  of  learning — Pan  Chao — The  East- 
ern and  Western  Han — the  introduction  of  Bud- 
dhism— the  end  of  the  Dynasty. 

KAO  Tsu.  The  dynasty  of  Han  which  lasted 
for  four  centuries  and  included  the  reigns  of 
thirty-two  Emperors  was  founded  by  the  suc- 
cessful soldier  of  fortune,  Liu  pang.  Liu  pang 
was  originally  a  peasant  of  the  province  of  Kiang 
su  who  made  himself  popular  among  his  fellow- 
villagers  by  his  good  nature  and  courage  and 
made  himself  wealthy  by  marriage  with  the 
woman  who  afterwards  became  notorious  as  the 
Empress  Lu  How.  Chosen  as  the  head  of  a 
band  of  insurgents  Liu  pang  gradually  attracted 
to  himself  leaders  of  influence  and  ability,  and, 
proclaiming  himself  Prince  of  Han,  took  advan- 
tage of  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country 
at  the  close  of  the  Tsin  dynasty  to  fight  his  way 

to  supreme  power.     His  principal  opponent  was 

89 


his  fellow  general,  Hiang  Yu,  a  man  of  immense 
stature,  strength  and  courage.  Victory,  how- 
ever, fell  to  the  lot  of  Liu  pang  and  the  Empire 
recognized  the  victor  who  forthwith  assumed  the 
yellow  Robe  under  the  title  of  Kao  Tsu.  The 
reign  lasted  about  seven  years  and  was  marked 
by  considerable  wisdom  and  moderation. 

Lu  How.  Not  so  much  can  be  said  in  favor  of 
the  reign  which  immediately  followed.  The 
widow  of  Kao  Tsu  terrorized  the  young  prince, 
her  son,  who  succeeded  to  the  throne,  until,  at 
the  end  of  seven  years,  he  was  driven  into  sheer 
imbecility  and  died.  The  masterful  Empress  then 
reigned  alone  and  in  her  own  right  until  her 
death  in  B.  C.  180.  It  is  the  only  instance  of  a 
female  rule  over  China  which  is  regarded  by  the 
historians  as  possessing  a  legitimate  title.  A 
more  attractive  personality  is  that  of  Wen  Ti, 
who  succeeded  the  stalwart  Empress.  The  mod- 
eration and  unselfishness  of  his  character  are  il- 
lustrated by  the  story  that  he  abandoned  the 
building  of  his  projected  "Dew  Tower"  when  he 
learned  that  its  cost  would  be  a  hundred  bars  of 
gold.  "I  will  not  spend  on  this  building,"  he 
said,  "what  will  furnish  ten  households  with  a  for- 
tune." 

Wu  TI.  B.C.  140-87.  The  greatest  of  the 
Han  sovereigns  was  undoubtedly  the  sixth  of  the 
dynasty,  Wu  ti,  whose  long  reign  of  fifty-four 
years  was  one  of  the  most  splendid  in  the  whole 
history  of  China.  He  was  an  enthusiastic  patron 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  91 

of  literature  and  during  his  earlier  years  he  did 
much  to  promote  the  study  of  the  re-discovered 
Confucian  classics.  His  proclamation,  calling 
for  men  of  genius  to  present  themselves  at  court, 
met  with  a  prompt  response.  Among  those  who 
came  was  the  famous  Tung  fang  so.  This 
worthy  replied  to  the  imperial  invitation  in  this 
wise:  "I  am  now  twenty-two  years  old;  I  am 
9  feet  3  inches  high;  my  eyes  are  like  swinging 
pearls ;  my  teeth  like  a  row  of  shells.  I  am  brave 
as  Meng  Pen,  prompt  as  Ch'ing  Chi,  pure  as  Pao 
Shu  Ya,  devoted  as  Wei  Shang.  I  consider  my- 
self fit  to  be  an  high  officer  of  State  and  with 
my  life  in  my  hand  await  your  Majesty's  reply." 
He  was  received,  and  rose  to  the  office  of  Censor. 
On  many  occasions  he  kept  the  Emperor  amused 
by  his  wit,  but  on  one  occasion  drank  a  potion  of 
Immortality,  brewed  by  some  Taoist  sage  for 
his  Majesty's  own  use,  and  was  thereupon  con- 
demned to  death.  He  got  out  of  the  scrape  by 
exclaiming :  "If  the  potion  was  genuine,  you  can- 
not kill  me,  whereas,  if  it  was  not,  what  harm 
has  been  done?"  Wu  ti  displayed  in  his  later 
life  a  great  devotion  to  the  superstitions  and 
magical  rites  of  Taoism  and  is  said  to  have  been 
the  author  of  the  so-called  "Dew-receiving  Vase" 
in  the  belief  that  the  drinking  of  the  dew  thus 
collected  would  secure  immortality.  His  addic- 
tion to  Taoism  may  have  given  rise  to  the  legends 
of  the  visits  of  the  fairy  Queen,  Si  Wang  Mu, 
the  Queen  Mother  of  the  West,  already  referred 


92       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

to  in  connection  with  the  reign  of  Muh  Wang. 
Wu  ti  initiated  a  series  of  Imperial  pilgrimages 
on  the  most  gorgeous  scale  to  perform  sacrificial 
rites  at  the  various  mountain  shrines. 

EXPANSION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  Wu  ti's  real  fame 
rests  upon  the  remarkable  expansion  of  the  Em- 
pire westward  which  his  reign  witnessed.  He 
found  on  his  accession  that  the  Empire  was  se- 
riously threatened  by  the  growing  power  of  the 
Hiung  nu,  or  Huns,  and  labored  hard  (not  with- 
out much  success)  to  oppose  their  advances 
through  his  own  generals  and  by  means  of  alliance 
with  the  Yueh  chih,  or  Indo-Scythians,  against 
the  common  enemy.  Many  famous  generals  come 
to  the  front  in  this  memorable  conflict,  a  conflict 
which  had  the  most  far-reaching  results  both  for 
Europe  and  Asia.  There  was  Chang  K'ien,  who 
"pierced  the  void"  by  penetrating  to  the  extreme 
west,  from  whence  he  brought  back  not  only  the 
laurels  of  victory  but  the  Persian  grape  vine. 
There  was  Li  Kwang,  victorious  in  seventy  bat- 
tles against  the  Huns,  who  committed  suicide 
after  his  last  victory,  because  the  Khan,  for  whose 
capture  he  had  pledged  his  word,  managed  to  es- 
cape. There  was  also  Li  Kwang  Li,  who  in  B.  C. 
104  carried  his  victorious  banners  to  the  borders 
of  Persia.  Not  less  notable  again  was  the  am- 
bassador Su  Wu  who  in  B.  C.  100  was  sent  on  a 
mission  to  the  Hun  chief  and  there  detained  a 
prisoner  for  nineteen  years.  Compelled  to  tend 
the  flocks  of  the  Huns  in  the  deserts  around  Lake 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  93 

Balkash,  he  retained  all  those  years  his  rod  of 
office  which  he  used  as  a  shepherd's  staff.  His 
captivity  was  at  last  discovered  when  a  wild 
goose,  with  a  message  from  the  home-sick  exile 
fastened  to  its  feathers,  was  shot  by  the  Emperor 
in  his  imperial  hunting  grounds.  Su  Wu  re- 
turned at  last,  B.  C.  81,  a  prematurely  old  and 
broken  man,  but  an  immortal  example  of  loyalty 
and  patriotic  spirit. 

GUARDING  THE  FRONTIER.  Remarkable  testi- 
mony to  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  work  of 
caring  for  the  interests  of  the  empire  in  the  west- 
ern marches  is  afforded  by  Dr.  Aurel  Stein  in  his 
recent  book,  "The  Ruins  of  Desert  Cathay." 
Here  we  are  brought  face  to  face  with  the  wall 
which  was  built  to  exclude  China's  most  formida- 
ble foreign  foes.  The  evidences  are  still  plain, 
in  the  long,  straight  furrow  which  is  still  dis- 
cernible some  twenty  feet  from  the  line  of  the 
wall,  of  the  vigilance  with  which  the  sentinels  ful- 
filled their  duty  when  they  mounted  guard.  The 
very  stacks  of  reeds  which  were  kept  along  the 
road  to  serve  as  material  for  fire  signals  have 
been  discovered  in  the  sand,  where  for  two  mil- 
lenniums they  were  buried.  Newly  discovered 
documents  give  exact  details  of  the  campaigns, 
together  with  an  account  of  all  the  provisions 
made  for  transforming  an  army  of  conquest  into 
an  agricultural  colony.  We  know  what  clothing 
was  served  out  to  the  soldiers  and  what  their 
weapons  were,  down  to  the  number  of  arrows  al- 


94       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

lowed  to  each  quiver.  We  enter  into  all  the  inti- 
mate circumstances  of  the  daily  life  of  the  colony 
and  can  appreciate  to  the  full  the  old  poem  which 
Dr.  Stein  quotes,  translated  by  M.  Chavannes: 

"Every  ten  li  a  horse  starts; 
Every  five  li  a  whip  is  raised  high; 
A   military   order  of  the   Protector   General  of  the 

Transfrontier  regions   has   arrived 
With    news    that    the    Huns    were    besieging    Chiu 

Chuan ; 
But  just  then  the  snowflakes  were  falling  on  the 

hills 

Along  which  the  barrier  stretches, 
And  the  signal  fires  could  raise  no  smoke."  1 

SZE  MA  TSHIEN  ON  THE  HAN  DYNASTY.  The 
general  trend  of  the  history  of  China  under  the 
Han  dynasty  has  never  been  more  vividly  and 
comprehensively  set  forth  than  in  the  following 
passage  from  the  great  historian  of  the  period, 
Sze  Ma  Tshien.  The  quotation,  though  a  long 
one,  will  readily  be  excused. 

"When  the  House  of  Han  arose  the  evils  of 
their  predecessors  had  not  passed  away.  Hus- 
bands still  went  off  to  the  wars.  The  old  and  the 
young  were  employed  in  transporting  food. 
Production  was  almost  at  a  standstill  and  money 
became  scarce.  So  much  so  that  even  the  Son 
of  Heaven  had  not  carriage  horses  of  the  same 
color;  the  highest  civil  and  military  authorities 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  95 

rode  in  bullock-carts  and  the  people  knew  not 
where  to  lay  their  heads. 

"At  this  period  the  Huns  were  harassing  our 
northern  frontier,  and  soldiers  were  massed  there 
in  large  bodies ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  food 
became  so  scarce  that  the  authorities  offered  cer- 
tain rank  and  titles  of  honor  to  those  who  could 
supply  a  given  quantity  of  grain.  Later  on, 
drought  ensued  in  the  west,  and  in  order  to  meet 
necessities  of  the  moment,  official  rank  was  again 
made  a  marketable  commodity,  while  those  who 
broke  the  laws  were  allowed  to  commute  their 
penalties  by  money  payments.  And  now  horses 
began  to  reappear  in  official  stables  and  in  palace 
and  hall  signs  of  an  ampler  luxury  were  visible 
once  more. 

"Thus  it  was  in  the  early  days  of  the  dynasty, 
until  some  seventy  years  after  the  accession  of 
the  House  of  Han.  The  Empire  was  then  at 
peace.  For  a  long  time  there  had  been  neither 
food  nor  drought,  and  a  season  of  plenty  had  en- 
sued. The  public  granaries  were  well  stocked; 
the  Government  treasuries  were  full.  In  the  capi- 
tal strings  of  cash  were  piled  in  myriads,  until 
the  very  strings  rotted,  and  their  tale  could  no 
longer  be  told.  The  grain  in  the  Imperial  store- 
houses grew  moldy  year  by  year.  It  burst  from 
the  .crammed  granaries  and  lay  about  until  it 
became  unfit  for  human  food.  The  streets  were 
thronged  with  horses  belonging  to  the  people, 
and  on  the  highways  whole  droves  were  to  be 


96       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

seen,  so  that  it  became  necessary  to  prohibit  the 
public  use  of  mares.  Village  elders  ate  meat  and 
drank  wine.  Petty  Government  clerkships  and 
the  like  lapsed  from  father  to  son;  the  higher 
offices  of  state  were  treated  as  family  heirlooms. 
For  there  had  gone  abroad  a  spirit  of  self-respect 
and  reverence  for  the  law,  while  a  sense  of  charity 
and  of  duty  towards  one's  neighbor  kept  man 
aloof  from  disgrace  and  shame. 

"At  length,  under  lax  laws,  the  wealthy  began 
to  use  their  riches  for  evil  purposes  of  pride  and 
self-aggrandisement  and  oppression  of  the  weak. 
Members  of  the  Imperial  family  received  grants 
of  land,  while  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
everyone  vied  with  his  neighbor  in  lavishing  money 
on  houses,  and  appointments,  and  apparel,  al- 
though beyond  the  limit  of  his  means.  Such  is 
the  everlasting  law  of  the  sequence  of  prosperity 
and  decay."  2 

THE  REVIVAL  or  LEARNING.  We  have  already 
alluded  to  the  renewed  interest  in  letters  which 
marked  the  accession  of  the  Han  dynasty.  In 
spite  of  the  fact  that  the  writing  brush  or  pencil 
had  been  invented  under  the  Tsins,  the  sword  in 
that  period  was  far  mightier  than  the  pen,  as  the 
four  hundred  and  sixty  literati  learned  to  their 
cost.  Even  during  the  Han  period  the  expansion 
of  the  Empire  involved,  as  we  have  seen,  the  em- 
ployment of  large  military  forces.  But,  within 
the  borders  of  China  itself,  until  after  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Christian  era,  the  Hans  sue- 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  97 

cceded  in  keeping  the  peace.  It  is  a  fact  often 
commented  upon  that  the  Chinese  Emperor  at 
the  date  of  the  birth  of  Christ  was  Ping  ti,  "the 
Emperor  of  Peace."  Naturally,  the  first  of  the 
Hans,  the  man  who  had  hewn  his  way  to  the 
throne  with  the  sword,  was  at  first  inclined  to  the 
opposite  course.  "I  won  the  Empire  on  horse- 
back," he  exclaimed  to  his  ministers.  "Yes,"  they 
replied,  "but  you  cannot  govern  it  on  horseback." 
So  it  proved,  and  the  new  era  showed  a  most 
praiseworthy  desire  to  conform  to  the  ideals  of 
the  old  literati.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  the 
Emperors  still  patronized  Taoism,  a  vigorous 
search  was  made  for  the  missing  Confucian  books, 
and,  as  already  noted,  they  were  fortunately  re- 
covered from  the  walls  of  the  Confucian  family 
dwelling  place  and  from  the  memory  of  Fu  Sheng 
who,  although  ninety  years  old,  repeated  the 
precious  classics  word  for  word  to  the  officials 
sent  to  consult  him.  Some  chapters,  however,  are 
said  to  have  been  lost  irrecoverably.  At  least 
when  the  Chinese  are  reproached  for  lack  of 
knowledge  in  some  branch  of  modern  science,  the 
reply  may  be,  "It  was  all  in  the  lost  chapters  of 
Confucius." 

Renewed  interest  was  felt  in  almost  every 
branch  of  literature.  In  History,  Sze  Ma  Tshien, 
"The  Herodotus  of  China,"  flourished  and  wrote 
the  famous  "Historical  Records"  from  which  we 
have  already  given  an  extract.  It  was  published 
about  B.  C.  90  from  materials  collected  by  the 


98       OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

author's  father.  From  this  work  we  derive  the 
information  that  Wu  ti  "offered  rewards  of  money 
and  silk  for  well  written  copies  of  ancient  works." 
Lexicography  was  created  at  this  time  as  a 
science  by  the  scholar  Hsu  Shen,  who  compiled 
the  famous  Shwo  Wen,  a  collection  of  comments 
upon  and  explanations  of  about  ten  thousand 
Chinese  characters.  The  work  is  of  the  very 
highest  value  to  the  student  of  ideography.  In 
Poetry  also  we  have  some  notable  names.  The 
most  interesting  to  Western  readers  is  Cilia  yi, 
who  has  been  called  the  "Edgar  Allan  Poe  of 
China,"  because  of  the  undoubted  resemblance 
which  exists  between  his  "White  Owl  Ode"  and 
"The  Raven."  We  can  only  quote  here  the  first 
stanza,  but  the  resemblance  is  maintained  through- 
out the  poem. 

"In  dismal,  gloomy,  crumbling  halls, 
Betwixt   moss-covered,   reeking  walls, 
An  exiled  poet  lay — 
On  his  bed  of  straw  reclining, 
Half-despairing,  half-repining — 
When  athwart  the  window  sill, 
In  flew  a  bird  of  omen  ill, 
And  seemed  inclined  to  stay."  3 

The  Chinese  assert  that  the  Shi-King,  or  Book 
of  Odes,  constitutes  the  roots  of  the  Chinese  tree 
of  poetry,  that  during  the  Han  dynasty  it  burst 
into  foliage,  and  that  during  the  T'ang  dynasty- 
it  came  into  full  bloom. 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  99 

As  an  illustration  of  the  value  attached  to  lit- 
erature at  this  epoch  the  case  may  be  cited  of 
the  writer  Yang  Hsung,  B.  C.-A.  D.  18,  to  whom 
a  rich  merchant  offered  100,000  cash  for  the  mere 
mention  of  his  name.  Yang  replied  that  a  stag  in 
a  pen  or  an  ox  in  a  cage  would  be  as  much  out 
of  place  as  the  name  of  a  man  who  had  nothing 
but  money  in  a  true  work  of  literature. 

It  is  probable  that  the  invention  of  paper  some- 
where about  this  time  (although  possibly  earlier) 
had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  stimulated  pro- 
duction of  books.  The  invention  is  ascribed  to 
the  Marquis  Tsao  "from  the  inner  bark  of  trees, 
ends  of  hemp,  old  rags,  and  fishing  nets."  The 
Annals  of  the  Han  Dynasty  tell  us  that  the  Im- 
perial Library  at  this  time  possessed  3,123  vol- 
umes on  the  classics,  2,705  volumes  of  philosophy, 
1,318  of  poetry,  790  on  warfare,  2,528  on  mathe- 
matics, and  868  on  medicine.4 

PAN  CHAO.  One  scholar,  among  many,  de- 
serves special  mention,  since  she,  the  lady  Pan 
Chao,  helps  to  remind  us  that  not  all  famous  Chi- 
nese women  were  engaged  in  seducing  or 
tyrannizing  over  Emperors  and  bringing 
States  to  ruin.  In  the  Chinese  "Biographies 
of  Famous  Women"  there  are  three  hundred  and 
ten  ladies  who  are  deemed  worthy  of  mention. 
Among  these  a  high  place  belongs  to  Pan  Chao, 
literata  and  historian,  and  one  of  the  principal 
ornaments  of  the  age.  She  was  married  at  the 
age  of  fourteen,  but  early  became  a  widow.  At 


100     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

once  she  set  about  occupying  her  widowhood  use- 
fully with  historical  studies  and  literary  labors. 
Her  brother,  Pan  Ku,  was  the  Court  historio- 
grapher, and  her  assistance  was  always  generously 
given  to  him  and  by  him  generously  acknowledged. 
Before,  however,  his  history  was  complete,  Pan 
Ku  became  involved  in  the  downfall  of  the  Gen- 
eral Tow  Hien,  and  was  cast  into  prison.  Here 
he  died  of  chagrin  and  it  was  then  that  the  sister 
rose  nobly  to  the  occasion.  With  the  kind  help 
of  the  Emperor  -she  set  to  work  to  revise  and 
publish  her  brother's  writings.  The  result  was 
"The  Book  of  Han"  which  includes  the  history  of 
twelve  Emperors  of  the  dynasty.  As  a  reward 
the  lady  Pan  was  made  Mistress  of  Poetry,  Elo- 
quence and  History  for  the  Empress,  and  her  ex- 
ample was  highly  commended  to  the  ladies  of  the 
Court.  A  work  of  Pan  Chao's  own  pen  which 
attained  great  celebrity  was  the  book  entitled, 
"Lessons  for  the  Female  Sex." 

THE  EASTERN  AND  WESTERN  HAN.  The  his- 
tory of  the  Han  dynasty  must  be  divided  into 
two  portions.  The  earlier  or  Western  Han,  as 
it  is  called,  lasted  from  B.  C.  206  to  A.  D.  25  and 
was  mainly  a  period  of  prosperity  and  peace  at 
home  and  military  success  abroad.  It  was  in  this 
period  that  the  great  generals  carried  the  arms 
of  China  into  Western  Asia,  caused  the  banners 
of  the  Eastern  Empire  to  meet  the  banners  of 
Rome  on  the  shores  of  the  Caspian,  and  made  a 
way  for  the  merchants  of  China  to  carry  their 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  101 

silk  and  iron  into  the  markets  of  Europe.  The 
Western  Han  had  their  capital  in  the  city  of 
Chang  An.  The  Later  or  Eastern  Hans  removed 
the  capital  to  Lo  Yang  and  maintained  their 
sway  from  A.  D.  25  to  A.  D.  220.  The  first  ruler 
of  the  line,  Liu  Hsiu,  made  himself  popular  in  a 
time  of  famine  by  selling  corn  to  the  people  at 
a  cheap  rate.  Then,  taking  up  arms  against  his 
Emperor,  he  fought  a  series  of  bloody  battles 
and  ascended  the  throne  under  the  title  of  Kwang 
Wu  Ti.  The  period  is  mainly  one  of  unrest  and 
decadence,  although  it  includes  the  life  of  Yang 
Chen,  "The  Confucius  of  the  West,"  famous  for 
the  response  made  to  those  who  tempted  him  to 
obtain  wealth  by  fraud.  They  told  him  that  no 
one  would  know  of  it,  to  which  he  answered, 
"Heaven  knows  it,  Earth  knows  it,  you  know  it, 
I  know  it;  how  say  you  then  that  no  one  will 
know  it?"  Mention  also  should  be  made  of  that 
sturdy  old  warrior,  Ma  Yuan,  known  as  the 
"Generalissimo  Queller  of  the  Waves,"  who  from 
his  youth  up  was  a  faithful  defender  of  the  na- 
tional honor  on  the  northern  frontier.  He  rode 
erect  in  his  saddle  to  the  last,  and  died  at  an  ad- 
vanced age  in  the  field  against  the  barbarian 
tribes  of  Hu-nan.  "It  is  more  meet,"  he  said, 
"that  a  commander  be  brought  to  his  home  as  a 
corpse  wrapped  in  his  horse's  hide  than  that  he 
should  die  in  his  bed  surrounded  by  boys  and 
girls." 

INTRODUCTION   OF    BUDDHISM.     The   most   im- 


102     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

portant  event  in  the  history  of  the  Empire  of  the 
Eastern  Hans  is  the  introduction  of  Buddhism 
about  A.  D.  67.  Traditions  exist  of  an  earlier 
acquaintance  in  China  with  the  religion  of  Gau- 
tama. One  story  speaks  of  the  coming  in  B.  C. 
217  of  an  Indian  priest,  who  is  called  Li  Fang, 
with  seventeen  companions.  Another  tells  us 
that  one  of  the  Han  generals,  Ho  Ku  Ping,  after 
gaining  brilliant  victories  in  Turkestan,  about 
B.  C.  123,  brought  back  as  a  trophy  a  golden 
image  which  has  been  supposed  an  image  of  a 
Buddha.  The  commonly  accepted  account,  how- 
ever, connects  the  first  proclamation  of  the  In- 
dian faith  with  the  second  Eastern  Han  Emperor, 
Meng-ti,  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  58  to  76.  This 
king  had  a  dream  in  which  he  saw  a  golden  image 
standing  in  the  palace  court  yard  with  two  ar- 
rows in  its  right  hand.  The  dream,  interpreted 
by  his  brother,  was  understood  to  refer  to  a 
great  ruler  in  the  West.  Possibly  the  inter- 
preter had  already  heard  of  the  great  victories 
gained  by  Buddhism  in  Central  Asia  and  con- 
nected the  two  arrows  with  the  ideograph  for 
Fu 5 — the  Chinese  name  for  Buddha.  Meng-ti 
at  once  sent  his  emissaries,  eighteen  in  number, 
to  learn  about  the  faith  of  Sakya  Muni.  They 
returned  in  A.  D.  67,  accompanied  by  two  Indian 
teachers,  Kashiapmadanga  and  Gobharana,  who 
brought  with  them  the  books  and  images  neces- 
sary for  the  propagation  of  the  new  religion.  A 
temple  was  built  within  the  walls  of  the  capital, 


THE  HAN  DYNASTY  103 

Lo-yang  (the  present  Honan  fu),  and  in  this  way 
Buddhism  obtained  its  footing  in  the  Celestial 
Empire.6 

For  some  time  progress  was  very  slow,  but 
from  the  fourth  century  onward  (if  we  may  be 
allowed  so  far  to  anticipate)  the  Chinese  were 
permitted  to  take  vows  as  monks,  and  some  of 
these  monks  became  famous  as  travelers  and 
scholars.7  Of  these  we  shall  speak  in  due  course. 

THE  END  OF  THE  DYNASTY.  The  last  years 
of  the  Eastern  Han  dynasty  were  years  of  al-» 
most  unintermittent  turbulence.  The  comman- 
der of  the  forces,  Tung  Cho,  was  summoned  to 
the  capital  by  the  Empress'  brother,  Ho  Tsin, 
in  order  to  deliver  the  young  Emperor  out  of  the 
control  of  the  palace  eunuchs.  He  arrived  at 
Lo  Yang  only  to  find  Ho  Tsin  murdered  and  at 
once  set  himself  to  gain  the  supreme  control. 
The  eunuch  faction  was  overcome,  the  Emperor 
and  his  brother  seized,  and  the  latter,  under  the 
name  of  Hien  ti,  was  chosen  as  the  puppet  to  oc- 
cupy the  throne.  From  this  moment  Tung  Cho 
displayed  an  almost  unexampled  ferocity  of  tem- 
per. Among  other  acts  of  tyranny,  he  deported 
the  whole  population  of  Lo  Yang  to  the  older 
capital  of  Chang  An,  and  burned  the  whole  of  the 
deserted  buildings  over  an  area  of  fifty  square 
miles.  Nemesis  overtook  him  in  the  form  of  a 
conspiracy  which  led  to  his  assassination  in  A.  D. 
192. 

The  most  prominent  figure  in  this  conspiracy 


104.     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

was  Tsao  Tsao,  a.  soldier  of  obscure  origin  who, 
immediately  after  Tung  Cho's  death,  seized  and 
imprisoned  the  boy  Emperor  and  assumed  royal 
power  under  the  title  of  the  Duke  of  Wei. 

Meanwhile  his  pretensions  to  power  were  most 
energetically  opposed  by  another  famous  soldier 
of  the  time,  Liu  Pei,  a  man  who  had  risen  from 
the  position  of  a  seller  of  straw  mats  and  san- 
dals and  was  now  loyally  supported  by  two  war- 
rior brothers  and  a  sagacious  statesman.  The 
statesman  was  Chu  Jco  Hang,  who  has,  in  explana- 
tion of  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  been  cred- 
ited with  anticipating  certain  modern  inventions, 
through  the  mention  of  "oxen  of  wood  and  me- 
chanical horses."  Some,  however,  suppose  that 
these  magical  machines  were  nothing  but — wheel- 
barrows !  The  two  brothers  were  Chang  Fei  and 
Kwan  Yu.  The  latter  is  now  better  known  as 
Kwan-ti,  the  Chinese  God  of  War.  He  was  in 
early  life  a  seller  of  bean  curd,  and  obtained  de- 
ification on  account  of  his  bravery.  Beheaded  in 
A.  D.  219,  he  was  canonized  under  the  Sungs  in 
A.  D.  1128  and  was  made  a  god  under  the  Mings 
in  A.  D.  1594.  By  the  help  of  such  auxiliaries 
Liu  Pei  established  himself  as  ruler  in  the  present 
province  of  Sze  chuen  and  founded  a  short-lived 
dynasty  known  as  the  Minor  Han  or  Shu  Han. 
But  it  is  time  to  take  leave  of  the  Hans  and 
glance  over  the  period  of  anarchy  to  which  this 
(on  the  whole)  brilliant  dynasty  gave  place. 


NOTES 

1.  See  Stein,  "Ruins  of  Desert  Cathay,"  1912.     I 
387,  II   108,  111,  149,  153. 

2.  Giles,    "History    of    Chinese    Literature,"    pp. 
104-5. 

3.  For  whole  poem  see  Dr.  W.  P.  Martin. 

4.  R.  K.  Douglas,  "The  Literature  of  China,"  p. 
82. 

5.  The   Ideograph   Fu  is   composed  of   the   sym- 
bols for  "man"  and  "a  bow  with  two  arrows." 

6.  For  a  very  trustworthy  account  of  the  intro- 
duction   of    Buddhism    into    China    read    Hackmann, 
"Buddhism  as  a  Religion,"  pp.  77  ff. 

7.  See  Beal,  "Buddhist  Records  of  the  Western 
World." 


105 


CHAPTER  XI 

FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY 
A.  D.  220-618. 

The  three  Kingdoms — the  Western  Tsin — the 
Northern  Sung — the  dynasty  of  Tsi — the  dy- 
nasty of  Suy — the  invasion  of  Korea — the  litera- 
ture of  the  period — the  Buddhist  pilgrims. 

THE  THREE  KINGDOMS.  For  nearly  four  cen- 
turies after  the  downfall  of  the  Han  dynasty  we 
have  an  illustration  of  the  proverb,  "For  the  in- 
iquities of  a  land  many  are  the  princes  thereof." 
So  rapid  are  the  changes  of  royal  line  during 
this  period  that  we  are  justified  in  applying  to  it 
the  word  "anarchy."  For  a  few  years,  from 
A.  D.  220  to  280,  China  was  practically  divided 
into  three  independent  kingdoms.  There  was 
that  of  the  Wei,  founded  by  Tsao  Tsao,  in  the 
north;  the  Shu  Han,  founded  by  Liu  Pei,  in  the 
province  of  Sze  chuen,  and  the  Wu  in  the  south. 
The  Wei  dominion  was  further  broken  up  into  the 
Northern,  Western,  and  Eastern  Wei.  Of  the 
time  of  the  Three  Kingdoms  there  is  little  that 
seems  worth  recording,  though,  in  passing,  one 
may  pay  a  tribute  of  admiration  for  the  shrewd- 
ness of  one  of  the  rulers  who  "proclaimed  that  in 
106 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY    107 

all  future  cases  of  litigation  the  decision  should 
be  referred  to  the  ordeal  of  archery."  In  this 
way  he  produced  a  nation  of  bowmen  who  gave 
a  good  account  of  themselves  in  a  conflict  with 
the  state  of  Tsin.  Of  one  of  the  last  of  the  se- 
ries, too,  a  delightful  story  is  told  of  how  he 
lured  on  his  exhausted  and  thirsty  soldiers  in  a 
certain  campaign  by  assuring  them  of  the  near- 
ness of  an  orchard  of  ripe  plums.  The  thought 
of  ripe  plums  made  their  mouths  water  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  were  no  longer  thirsty  and 
were  saved  through  the  deception. 

The  remainder  of  the  period  may  be  dealt  with 
in  the  brief  story  of  the  dynasties  now  to  be  de- 
scribed, although  there  is  a  certain  amount  of  in- 
evitable overlapping. 

WESTERN  TSIN.  A.  D.  265-428.  The  West- 
ern Tsin  dynasty  includes  fifteen  Emperors,  some 
of  whom  were  respectable,  and  one  of  them,  Wu  ti 
(a  very  common  appellation  signifying  Con- 
queror), a  ruler  of  promise.  He  reigned  from 
A.  D.  265  to  290  and  is  said  to  have  received  an 
embassy  from  Theodosius,  brother  of  the  Roman 
Emperor  Heraclius.  However,  after  he  had  es- 
tablished himself  upon  the  throne,  Wu  ti  became 
careless  and  luxurious,  and  is  described  as  spend- 
ing much  of  his  time  with  troups  of  women  in  the 
palace  gardens  riding  on  little  cars  drawn  by 
sheep.1  The  times  were  evidently  very  unsettled, 
and  at  one  time  there  were  as  many  as  eighteen 
little  sovereigns  disputing  among  themselves  for 


108     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

the  high  prize  of  imperial  dignity.  The  annalist 
writes  hopelessly  that  "children  of  concubines, 
priests,  old  women  and  nurses  administered  the 
government." 

It  was  under  these  conditions  that  an  attempt 
was  made  to  establish  a  new  religion,  the  cult  of 
the  Void  and  Nothingness,  a  species  of  Stoicism 
designed,  so  it  is  said,  to  strengthen  the  soul  for 
the  bearing  of  adversity,  and  to  promote  con- 
tempt for  the  honor  and  possessions  of  the  world. 

THE  NORTHERN  SUNG.  A.  D.  420-479.  The 
Sung  of  the  North  contributed  nine  Emperors,  of 
whom  the  first,  Liu  Yu,  was  another  ex-seller  of 
straw  sandals.  The  dynasty  must  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  great  Sung  dynasty  of  later 
times.  There  was  nothing  great  about  this  par- 
ticular line  and  all  that  need  here  be  said  is  that 
these  nine  Emperors  enjoyed  but  a  barren  honor, 
compassed  as  they  were  with  trouble,  rebellion 
and  fear  of  assassination. 

THE  Tsi  DYNASTY.  A.  D.  479-502.  The  Tsi 
dynasty  includes  the  reigns  of  five  sovereigns  who 
altogether  retained  their  small  semblance  of 
power  for  just  twenty-three  years.  Of  one  of 
these  the  following  story  is  told:  He  was  very 
fond  of  the  chase  and,  riding  one  day  through  a 
fine  field  of  wheat,  he  expressed  his  pleasure  at 
the  sight.  Thereupon,  one  of  his  friends  replied, 
"You  are  right,  but  do  you  know  the  pains  it  has 
cost?  If  you  reflected  that  this  field  is  watered 
by  the  sweat  of  the  people,  I  am  very  sure  that 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY     109 

you  would  not  be  so  heedless  in  passing  through 
with  your  hunting  parties."  The  king  at  once 
saw  the  force  of  the  reproof  and  forthwith  aban- 
doned the  pleasures  of  the  chase  for  the  more  hu- 
man asceticisms  of  Buddhism.  Another  Emperor 
of  the  same  line  is  said  to  have  been  so  studious 
that  he  was  never  seen  without  a  book  in  his 
hand,  even  when  engaged  in  hunting.  Perhaps 
it  was  this  ill-timed  devotion  to  learning  which 
contributed  to  the  downfall  of  the  dynasty.  The 
last  of  this  line  had  a  concubine  who  is  said  to 
be  responsible  for  the  atrocity  of  foot  binding. 
"Every  footstep  makes  a  lily  grow,"  exclaimed 
the  fond  husband  as  he  gazed  adoringly  upon  the 
diminutive  feet  of  P'an  Fei. 

THE  LIANG  DYNASTY.  A.  D.  402-557.  The 
founder  of  this  line  of  short-lived  fame,  a  line 
which  includes  the  stories  of  but  four  Emperors, 
believed  that  all  the  misfortunes  of  the  realm 
were  due  to  the  spread  of  foreign  religions,  such 
as  Taoism  and  Buddhism,  and  to  the  neglect  of 
the  precepts  of  Confucius.  To  redress  the  bal- 
ance he  established  schools  and  colleges  every- 
where at  which  lectures  might  be  delivered  on  the 
life  and  teachings  of  China's  sage,  and  reverence 
paid  to  his  name.  Before  the  end  of  his  reign, 
however,  the  king  underwent  a  complete  change 
of  heart  and  became  so  entirely  devoted  to  Bud- 
dhism that,  after  twenty-six  years  of  rule,  he  re- 
signed the  throne  to  become  a  monk.  The 
change  was  due,  it  is  said,  to  the  great  develop- 


ment  at  this  particular  time  of  intercourse  with 
India.  Many  vessels  plied  between  the  coasts  of 
China  and  the  ports  of  India  and  Ceylon;  am- 
bassadors arrived  frequently  from  the  various 
kings  of  Hindustan,  and  wandering  monks  vis- 
ited the  Western  kingdoms  bringing  back  pic- 
tures, images  and  books  of  devotion.  It  was  this 
king  who,  perhaps  for  the  first  time  in  history, 
abolished  the  penalty  of  capital  punishment. 
Historians  differ  as  to  the  effect  produced  by  this 
unusual  leniency. 

That  there  were  many  exceptions  to  the  rule 
of  general  depravity,  which  the  external  fortunes 
of  the  Empire  tend  to  emphasize,  is  evident  from 
some  of  the  stories  told  of  individuals  in  this 
period.  For  example,  there  is  the  tale  of  the 
minister  who  committed  suicide  by  starving  him- 
self rather  than  break  the  oath  of  allegiance  he 
had  sworn  to  the  preceding  dynasty.  There  is 
also  the  story  of  a  young  man  who  gave  himself 
up  to  be  executed  in  the  room  of  his  father,  a 
magistrate  who  had  been  condemned  on  account 
of  certain  crimes  which  had  been  committed 
within  his  jurisdiction.  The  dynasty  went  down 
to  defeat  like  the  rest,  and  we  have  the  spectacle 
presented  to  us  of  the  defeated  monarch  mount- 
ing a  white  horse,  after  the  capture  of  his  capital, 
and  riding  forth  to  give  himself  up  to  a  cruel 
death  at  the  hands  of  the  victor. 

THE  SUY  DYNASTY.  A.  D.  581-618.  The 
reigns  of  three  sovereigns  make  up  the  story  of 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY     111 

the  Suy  dynasty.  The  founder  was  Yang  Kien 
who  took  the  throne  name  of  Wen  ti,  or  Lettered 
Emperor  (a  designation  only  less  common  than 
that  of  Wu  ti,  or  conqueror).  His  son,  Yang 
Kuang,  was  evidently  a  ruler  of  more  than  the 
ordinary  vigor,  though  of  execrable  private 
character.  He  is  said  to  have  adorned  the  trees 
in  his  park  in  winter  time  with  silken  leaves  and 
flowers,  and  to  have  well-nigh  exterminated  the 
birds  to  provide  down  for  his  cushions.  To 
greater  purpose  he  labored  at  the  construction 
of  canals  connecting  China's  great  river  systems, 
the  present  Grand  Canal.  The  cruelty  with 
which  he  pressed  even  women  into  his  service  as 
laborers  in  this  undertaking  goes  far  towards 
canceling  any  credit  he  may  thereby  have  won  as 
a  public  benefactor.  He  reigned  sixteen  years 
and  succeeded  in  bringing  some  degree  of  order 
out  of  chaos.  He  promulgated  a  new  law  code 
and  attempted  to  stratify  society  in  four  castes, 
somewhat  after  the  Indian  manner.  If  not  per- 
sonally worthy  of  the  literary  title,  Wen  ti,  he 
evidently  appreciated  literature  and  encouraged 
learning  and  the  formation  of  libraries,  though 
he  sought  to  diminish  the  number  of  small  and 
inefficient  colleges  in  favor  of  the  large  and  more 
important  establishments  of  the  capital  cities. 
He  set  a  hundred  scholars  to  work  upon  an  edi- 
tion of  the  classics,  and  was  the  first  to  appoint 
the  examination  for  the  degree  known  as  chin 
shih.  His  military  exploits  include  expeditions 


113     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

against  the  Turks  and  invasions  of  Korea  and 
Tong-king  which  are  regarded  as  successful  or  un- 
successful according  to  the  point  of  view.  He 
undoubtedly  brought  back  much  treasure,  but  the 
struggle  with  Korea,  whatever  Chinese  accounts 
may  say  on  the  subject,  ended  in  the  triumph  of 
the  weaker  combatant.  In  A.  D.  598  China  had 
sent,  it  is  said,  300,000  men  to  conquer  Korea, 
but  failed.  Yang  renewed  the  attempt  in  cam- 
paigns which  lasted  from  A.  D.  611  to  614.  The 
accounts  state  that  an  army  of  over  a  million 
men,  in  .twenty-four  divisions,  was  employed,  as 
well  as  a  considerable  naval  force.  The  invasion 
was  once  again  unsuccessful,  partly  because  of 
the  breaking  out  of  rebellions  in  China  itself. 
In  A.  D.  617  there  were  as  many  as  seven  usurp- 
ers at  various  points  and  in  the  following  year 
Yang  was  assassinated.  He  was  succeeded  by 
his  grandson,  the  young  prince  T'ung,  who  soon 
afterward  fell  a  victim  to  the  ambition  of  his 
chief  minister,  Wang  Shih  Chung,  by  whom  he 
was  poisoned.  The  pathetic  story  is  told  that, 
when  the  boy  was  about  to  drink  the  fatal  potion, 
he  prayed  to  the  Buddha  that  he  might  never  be 
reborn  an  Emperor.  After  this  tragedy  the 
troubled  period  comes  to  an  end,  giving  place  to 
the  glorious  dynasty  of  T'ang. 

LITERATURE  OF  THE  PERIOD.  Literature  dur- 
ing these  wild  and  turbulent  centuries  was  not 
without  its  great  names.  These  appear  chiefly 
under  the  category  of  poetry,  but  the  poets  of 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY     113 

the  time  were  in  many  respects  all  too  like  the 
time  itself.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  epoch  there 
were  the  "Seven  Scholars  of  the  Chien  An,"  to 
whom  must  be  added  a  bard  who  was  also  a  Min- 
ister and  a  rather  important  figure  in  the  his- 
tory of  his  age.  On  one  occasion  he  is  said  to 
have  condemned  himself  to  death  for  having  per- 
mitted his  horse  to  ride  into  a  field  of  grain,  but 
he  satisfied  his  sense  of  justice,  with  but  little  in- 
convenience to  himself,  by  having  his  hair  cut  off 
instead  of  his  head.  In  the  3rd  Century  A.  D. 
we  have  another  bibulous  and  epicurean  circle 
known  as  the  "Seven  Sages  of  the  Bamboo  Grove." 
One  of  these  desired  always  to  be  accompanied  by 
a  servant  with  a  bottle  of  wine  and  followed  by 
another  servant  with  a  spade  to  bury  him  where 
he  fell.  Perhaps  the  average  poet  of  the  time 
was  not  unlike  the  one  described  in  the  lines  of 
Tao  Chien: 

"A  scholar  lives  on  yonder  hill, 
His  clothes  are  rarely  whole  to  view, 
Nine  times  a  month  he  eats  his  fill, 
Once  in  ten  years  his  hat  is  new. 
A  wretched  lot!  and  yet  the  while 
He  ever  wears  a  sunny  smile." 

THE  BUDDHIST  PILGRIMS.  A  pleasant  con- 
trast to  the  ail-too  monotonous  tale  of  insurrec- 
tion and  bloodshed  is  afforded  by  the  story  of 
the  Buddhist  pilgrims  who  left  China  during  these 


114     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OIF  CHINA 

centuries  to  visit  the  Holy  Land  of  Buddhism 
and  to  bring  back  from  thence  sutras,  images  and 
pictures.  Three  of  these  pilgrims  stand  out  con- 
spicuously not  less  for  the  charm  of  their  per- 
sonality than  for  the  splendid  heroism  of  their 
journeys  and  for  the  literary  value  of  the  works 
they  left  behind.  To  Fa-hien,  who  left  China  in 
A.  D.  899  and  traveled  for  fifteen  years  through 
Central  Asia,  India  and  Ceylon,  returning  by  way 
of  Java,  we  owe  the  discovery  of  the  birthplace  of 
Gautama  near  Kapilavastu  and  more  than  one 
other  important  identification  made  in  recent 
years.  Moreover,  we  owe  to  him  the  knowledge 
of  a  noble  and  grandly  simple  soul.  "That  I  en- 
countered danger,"  he  says,  "and  trod  the  most 
perilous  places,  without  thinking  of,  or  sparing 
myself,  was  because  I  had  a  definite  aim,  and 
thought  of  nothing  but  to  do  my  best  in  my  sim- 
plicity and  straightforwardness.  Thus  it  was 
that  I  exposed  my  life  where  death  seemed  inevi- 
table, if  I  might  accomplish  but  a  ten  thousandth 
part  of  what  I  hoped."  2  Sung,  whose  date  is 
A.  D.  518,  is  perhaps  less  familiar  to  us  and  less 
intimately  revealed.  But  Hiouen  Tsang  is  an- 
other whose  character  and  exploits  arouse  enthu- 
siasm, while  historians,  archaeologists  and  geogra- 
phers of  to-day  benefit  by  his  singular  and 
painstaking  accuracy.  He  falls  really  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  T'ang  period — his  date  is  A.  D. 
629 — but  he  is  most  conveniently  referred  to 
here.  As  the  patron  saint  of  Dr.  Aurel 


FOUR  CENTURIES  OF  ANARCHY     115 

Stein,  Hiouen  Tsang  has  recently  rendered 
distinguished  service  to  Oriental  knowledge  by 
making  possible  the  transfer  of  the  treasures 
of  the  "Cave  of  a  thousand  Buddhas"  to  the 
British  Museum.  One  other  pilgrim  should 
here  be  mentioned,  though  not  a  Chinaman. 
This  was  the  great  Bodhidharma,  the  twenty- 
eighth  successor  of  Gautama  and  the  first  of  the 
Buddhist  patriarchs  to  come  from  India  to  China. 
He  arrived  in  China  A.  D.  526  and  henceforth 
China  became  the  seat  of  the  Buddhist  patri- 
archate. Bodhidharma  is  the  center  of  many  fab- 
ulous stories,  such  as  that  which  represents  the 
tea  plant  as  springing  from  the  eyelids  he  cut 
off  to  keep  himself  awake,  but  he  is  quite  impor- 
tant historically  as  the  founder  of  one  of  the 
great  sects  of  Northern  Buddhism  which  have  re- 
mained alive  and  powerful  to  the  present  day  in 
China  and  Japan.3 


NOTES 

1.  A  similar  story  is  told  of  many  Chinese  Em- 
perors.    See  Yule's  "Marco  Polo,"  II  405  and  note. 

2.  A  charming  translation  of  Fa  Hien's  Travels 
is    given    by    Prof.    Legge,    Clarendon    Press,    1886. 
Beal's  "Records  of  Western  Kingdoms"  contains  the 
narratives  of  Fa   Hien,  Sung  and   Hiouen  Tsang. 

3.  For  Bodhidharma   (called  in  Japan  Daruma), 
see   Hackmann,   "Buddhism  as   a   Religion,"  pp.    80, 
213,  239,  280.     Griffis,  "The  Religion  of  Japan,"  pp. 
208,  254. 


116 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY 

A.  D.   618-905. 

Kao  tsu — Tai  Tsung — introduction  of  foreign 
religions — the  advance  of  learning — Social  wel- 
fare— last  years  of  Tai  Tsung — Kao-tsung — 
Chung  tsung — the  Empress  Wu  How — Chung 
Tsung's  successors — the  reforms  of  Yang  Yen — 
Wu  tsung — end  of  the  dynasty — poetry  under 
the  T'ang  dynasty — art — commerce — the  popu- 
lation of  China. 

KAO  TSU.  A.  D.  618-627.  Ki  Yuen,  the  gen- 
eral through  whose  treachery  the  last  of  the  pre- 
ceding dynasties  had  been  displaced,  now  took 
the  throne  of  China  under  the  name  of  Kao  tsu, 
thus  inaugurating,  however  unpropitiously,  the 
splendid  line  of  the  T'angs.  His  nine  years'  rule 
was  disturbed  by  invasions  by  the  Turks  and  Kao 
tsu  adopted  the  dangerous  policy  of  buying  off 
the  invaders  with  money.  The  plan,  so  futile  in 
the  majority  of  the  cases  in  which  it  has  been  em- 
ployed, in  this  instance  succeeded,  at  any  rate 
long  enough  to  afford  the  dynasty  time  to  con- 
solidate its  strength  and  the  Turkish  power,  cor- 
respondingly, time  to  wane.  Having  accom- 
117 


118     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

plished  so  much,  Kao  tsu  resigned  the  cares  of 
state  to  his  son,  Li-chi-min,  already  famous  as  the 
Prince  of  T'ang. 

T'AI  TSUNG.  A.  D.  627-650.  Li-chi-min  had 
already,  as  we  have  said,  achieved  fame.  As  a 
warrior  he  had  fought  against  and  vanquished  the 
Turks  whom  it  was  his  father's  policy  to  sub- 
sidize. As  a  man  he  had  already  proved  superior 
to  the  manifold  temptations  of  the  Court.  Gaz- 
ing upon  the  luxurious  furnishings  of  the  mag- 
nificent palaces  and  contrasting  all  this  with  the 
poverty  of  the  people,  he  exclaimed,  "Must  a  na- 
tion be  thus  exhausted  in  order  that  it  may  pan- 
der to  the  vanity  and  passions  of  one  man?" 
On  the  abdication  of  Kao  tsu,  he  took  the  name 
of  T'ai  Tsung  and  made  it  one  of  the  most  glo- 
rious in  the  annals  of  China.  He  was  able  from 
the  first  to  inspire  a  singular  measure  of  devotion 
in  the  hearts  of  many  brave  soldiers,  and  the  two 
heroes,  Yu  ch'e  Kung  and  Tsin  Kung,  who  kept 
watch  and  ward  at  his  chamber  door,  became  the 
two  worthies,  "the  guardians  of  the  door,"  whose 
names,  or  the  equivalent,  are  pasted  on  the  doors 
of  houses  to  the  present  day. 

T'ai  Tsung  proceeded  at  once  to  make  the  name 
of  China  respected  beyond  the  frontiers.  He 
conquered  the  tribes  westward  to  the  Caspian, 
divided  the  subjugated  realms  into  satrapies,  af- 
ter the  Persian  manner,  and  ruled  vigorously 
over  the  whole  vast  Empire,  until,  before  long, 
the  men  of  the  south  were  as  proud  to  speak  of 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  119 

themselves  as  T'ang  jin,  or  "men  of  T'ang,"  as 
they  had  formerly  been  to  describe  themselves  as 
"the  sons  of  Han."  Ambassadors  came  from  far 
lands,  including  the  kingdoms  of  India ;  the  Greek 
Emperor  sent  a  mission  to  his  court,  and  scholars 
of  renown  continued  their  journeys  from  China 
to  the  Western  Kingdoms. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  FOREIGN  RELIGIONS.  T'ai 
Tsung  was  a  beneficent  patron  of  religion  and 
missionaries  of  all  faiths  had  reason  to  be  grate- 
ful for  his  tolerance  and  even  hospitality.  In 
A.  D.  621  came  to  China  the  first  representatives 
of  the  religion  of  Zoroaster,  driven  out  of  the 
land  of  its  birth  by  the  fierce  onslaughts  of  the 
hosts  of  Islam.  A  little  later,  in  A.  D.  628,  came 
the  emissaries  of  the  persecuting  creed,  including, 
it  is  said,  an  uncle  of  the  Prophet  himself,  and 
Muhamadans  and  Magians  settled  down  peace- 
ably in  the  capital,  Si-ngan-fu,  where  both  a  fire- 
temple  and  a  mosque  were  erected,  by  permission 
of  the  Emperor.  Three  years  later,  A.  D.  631, 
came  Olupun,  the  missionary  of  Nestorian  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  faith  he  taught  was  so  gener- 
ously welcomed  and  so  readily  accepted  that  when 
the  famous  Inscription  of  Si-ngan-fu  l  was  set 
up  in  A.  D.  781,  it  expressed  the  gratitude  of 
large  numbers  of  ecclesiastics,  Chinese  and 
Syrian,  for  the  almost  unprecedented  success  of 
the  Christian  faith  in  the  Empire.  The  long  list 
of  names  attached,  in  both  Chinese  and  Syriac 
script,  attests  the  reality  of  the  work  which  had 


120     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

been  accomplished.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  con- 
trasting significantly  enough  with  the  religious 
strife  of  the  west,  that  at  this  time  in  China  the 
teachers  of  so  many  antagonistic  creeds  seem  to 
have  settled  down  in  the  center  of  the  Empire, 
to  live  in  harmony  and  concord.  The  remarkable 
interchange  of  influences  from  varied  races  and 
religions  at  this  time  is  most  interestingly  illus- 
trated in  the  great  collection  of  documents  which 
filled  the  cell  at  Tun  huang  and  made  up  what 
Dr.  Stein  calls  his  "polyglot  temple  library." 
One  of  the  most  interesting  and  significant  is  the 
Manichean  Confession 2  which  proves  that  the 
followers  of  Mani  as  well  as  those  of  Zoroaster 
and  Muhamad  had  found  a  welcome  in  the  China 
of  the  time. 

THE  ADVANCEMENT  or  LEARNING.  T'ai  Tsung 
not  only  tolerated  widely  divergent  forms  of  reli- 
gion ;  he  also  patronized  learning,  founded  a  lit- 
erary academy  at  the  capital,  promoted  the  pub- 
lication of  a  splendid  edition  of  the  Classics, 
known  as  "the  Thirteen  King,"  and  inaugurated 
the  system  of  Civil  Service  Examinations  in  lit- 
erature. He  believed  that  the  "ancient  writings 
were  accepted  by  all  as  the  best  instructors  of  the 
manners  and  tastes  of  the  people,"  and  was  wont 
to  say  that  "by  using  a  mirror  of  brass  you  may 
see  to  adjust  your  cap;  by  using  antiquity  as  a 
mirror,  you  may  learn  to  foresee  the  rise  and  fall 
of  Empires." 

SOCIAL    WELFARE.     The    Emperor    was    also 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  121 

sympathetically  mindful  of  the  social  condition 
of  the  people.  One  day,  paying  a  visit  to  the 
public  prisons,  he  found  two  hundred  and  ninety 
criminals  condemned  to  death.  He  at  once  sent 
them  forth  into  the  fields  to  assist  in  the  harvest, 
accepting  their  word  of  honor  to  return  when 
the  work  was  done.  To  a  man  they  justified  their 
sovereign's  trust  and  T'ai  Tsung  was  so  pleased 
at  their  fidelity  that  he  forthwith  set  them  free. 
Thereupon  he  made  the  rule  that  henceforth  no 
Emperor  should  ratify  a  sentence  of  death  until 
he  had  passed  three  days  in  abstinence,  lest  the 
lives  of  ignorant  or  innocent  people  should  be 
sacrificed  to  the  impulse  or  the  passion  of  a  mo- 
ment. 

A  remarkable  work  is  attributed  to  the  Em- 
peror (  on  the  Science  of  Government  which  is 
known  as  the  "Golden  Mirror."  The  extracts 
which  have  been  translated  for  us  by  one  of  thej 
old  Jesuit  missionaries,  Du  Halde,  show  that  the 
title  was  not  unworthily  bestowed. 

Not  less  worthy  of  fame  than  the  Emperor 
was  his  beautiful  wife,  Chang  Sun.  When  she 
was  dying  she  gave  utterance  to  the  following 
memorable  words:  "Put  no  jewels  in  my  coffin; 
let  my  head  rest  upon  a  wooden  tile;  and  fasten 
my  hair  with  wooden  pins.  Listen  to  no  un- 
worthy men  and  build  no  costly  palaces.  If  you 
promise  me  these  things  I  shall  die  happy." 

THE  LAST  YEARS  OF  T'AI  TSUNG.  T'ai  Tsung's 
life  was  all  too  short  for  the  plans  his  ambition 


suggested,  although  a  legend  tells  of  the  pro- 
longing of  his  days  by  an  alteration  of  the  words 
of  the  Book  of  Fate.  He  is  even  said  to  have 
died  and  gone  down  into  purgatory,  but,  like 
Hezekiah,  King  of  Judah,  he  rebelled  against  the 
shortening  of  his  days,  and  the  figures  were  al- 
tered on  the  tablets  of  fate  so  that  twenty  years 
were  added  to  his  length  of  rule.  Towards  the 
end  T'ai  Tsung  attempted  the  conquest  of  Korea 
but  was  obliged  to  leave  the  completion  of  this 
task  to  his  successor.  The  great  conqueror  had, 
ere  he  died,  the  frequent  experience  of  kings  in 
disillusionment  and  disappointment.  On  several 
occasions  his  life  was  attempted,  once  by  his 
own  son.  He  was  thus  painfully  reminded  of 
the  instability  of  all  human  power  and  learned, 
like  others  in  later  time,  that  "the  path  of  glory 
leads  but  to  the  grave."  Once,  voyaging  upon 
the  river  Wei,  he  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "My 
children,  the  waves  which  float  our  bark  are  able 
to  submerge  it  in  an  instant:  assuredly  the  peo- 
ple are  like  the  waves  and  the  Emperor  like  the 
fragile  bark."  3 

However,  when  T'ai  Tsung  died,  his  greatness 
was  not  unrecognized.  The  grief  of  the  people 
knew  no  bounds  and  even  the  foreign  envoys  are 
said  to  have  cut  themselves  with  knives  and  lan- 
cets and  sprinkled  the  dead  Emperor's  bier  with 
their  self-shed  blood. 

KAO-TSUNG.  A.  D.  650-683.  The  reign  of 
Kao  tsung  is  less  notable  for  anything  that  con- 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  123 

cerns  the  Emperor  himself  than  for  the  influence 
of  that  remarkable  and  most  masterful  woman, 
the  Empress  Wu-how,  whose  career  in  many  re- 
spects reminds  us  of  that  other  strong  Empress 
who  controlled  to  so  great  a  degree  the  destinies 
of  China  in  the  last  years  of  the  19th  Century. 
Wu-how,  in  spite  of  her  terrible  cruelty,  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  great  figures  of  Chinese 
history. 

WU-HOW.  As  a  girl  of  twelve  or  fourteen, 
Wu  How,  or  as  she  was  then  called  Wu  Chao,  was 
taken  from  her  humble  home  to  a  place  in  the 
harem  of  the  great  T'ai  Tsung.  On  that  Em- 
peror's death  she  had  nothing  apparently  to  ex- 
pect but  the  usual  fate  of  life-long  seclusion,  and 
retired  to  a  Buddhist  nunnery,  where  she  took  the 
vows.  The  new  king,  however,  Kao  tsung,  was 
attracted  by  her  and  restored  her  to  the  palace. 
Here  she  soon  supplanted  the  legitimate  queen, 
whom  she  caused  to  be  mutilated,  and  gradually 
usurped  every  high  office  of  state,  ruling  for  a 
while  by  taking  part  in  the  councils  from  behind 
a  curtain  and  at  length  proceeding  to  extreme 
lengths  as  an  uncontrolled  and  independent  ruler. 
She  even  usurped  the  most  exclusive  prerogative 
of  the  Chinese  Emperors,  the  right  of  sacrificing 
to  Shong-ti.  She  filled  the  palace  with  her  favor- 
ites and  completely  overbore  her  indolent  hus- 
band. Her  generals  completed  the  conquest  of 
Korea,  defeated  Khitans  and  Tibetans,  and  she 
herself  ruled  with  vigor  and  success.  Korea  was 


OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

placed  under  a  governor  and  became  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  a  Chinese  province,  although 
natives  were  not  excluded  from  civil  and  mili- 
tary office.  Kao  tsung  himself  was  remarkable 
for  little  beyond  his  devotion  to  Taoism  and  his 
interest  in  the  propagation  of  this  faith  was  not 
without  result,  but  it  is  Wu  How  who  ruled.  On 
Kao  tsung's  death,  the  heir,  Chung  tsung,  was 
ruthlessly  set  aside  and  in  A.  D.  690  Wu  How  had 
herself  proclaimed  as  "Emperor"  (literally  it 
might  be  translated  'God  Almighty')  of  the  Chow 
dynasty,  assuming  all  the  attributes  and  preroga- 
tives of  supreme  power.  In  A.  D.  705  a  military 
conspiracy  succeeded  in  displacing  her  from 
power  and  shortly  afterwards  this  most  masculine 
of  Dowagers  died  at  the  age  of  81.  The  super- 
seded heir,  Chung  tsung,  was  now  at  last  per- 
mitted to  take  up  the  reins  of  Government. 

CHUNG  TSUNG.  A.  D.  705-710.  The  new 
king,  who  had  hitherto  suffered  from  the  tyranny 
of  a  mother,  was  now  destined  to  groan  beneath 
the  domination  of  his  wife.  This  lady,  Wei  How, 
was  desirous  of  emulating  the  career  of  her 
mother-in-law,  and  poor  Chung  tsung  was  thus 
doubly  cheated  by  fate.  Our  regret,  however,  is 
the  less  since  he  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
effeminate  and  vicious  character,  scarcely  entitled 
to  the  sympathy  of  posterity.  Apparently  he 
only  resisted  turning  over  the  Government  to  his 
wife,  in  order  to  bestow  it  upon  his  two  daugh- 
ters, the  princesses  Ngan  Lo  and  T'ai  Ping.  He 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  125 

died  eventually  of  poison  in  A.  D.  610  and  was 
succeeded  by  Jui  Tsung.  The  queen  met  her  fate 
in  the  following  year,  being  put  to  death  with 
many  of  her  adherents. 

THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  CHUNG  TSUNG.  Jui  Tsung, 
A.  D.  710-713,  reigned  just  long  enough  to  reveal 
himself  as  a  feeble  and  incapable  inheritor  of  the 
T'ang  renown.  Yuen  tsung,  commonly  known  as 
Ming  Hwang,  who  had  taken  a  leading  part  in 
resisting  the  pretensions  of  Wei  How,  followed 
and  reigned  from  A.  D.  713  to  756.  It  was  a 
long  reign  but  troubled  throughout  by  revolt 
within  and  foreign  invasion  from  without.  The 
wise  counsel  of  the  statesman  Chang  Kiu  Ling, 
who  presented  his  master  with  a  treatise  known 
as  "the  Golden  Mirror  for  the  Sovereign's  birth- 
day," might  have  averted  many  evils,  had  it  been 
followed,  but  Yuen  tsung  did  not  take  the  hint. 
He  had  begun  his  reign  with  simple,  even  austere 
tastes,  closing  the  silk  factories  and  forbidding 
the  ladies  of  the  court  to  wear  jewels  or  embroid- 
eries. But  gradually  the  desire  to  establish  a 
brilliant  court  possessed  him.  His  patronage  of 
literature  and  art  took  extravagant  forms. 
Scenes  of  debauchery,  encouraged  by  the  favorite 
concubine,  Yang  Kuei  Fei,4  became  frequent. 
The  love  of  war  led  to  expeditions  which  increased 
expenses  and  brought  in  return  but  scant  measure 
of  glory.  On  one  occasion  the  Tibetans  even 
succeeded  in  capturing  and  pillaging  the  capital. 
The  responsibility  has  sometimes  been  laid  upon 


126     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

the  shoulders  of  a  certain  execrated  minister,  Li 
Lin  Fu,  who  is  described  in  the  phrase,  "honey  on 
his  lips  and  in  his  hand  a  sword,"  but  the  end 
came  all  the  same  to  Yuen  tsung  in  rebellion, 
flight  and  abdication.  Compelled  to  witness  the 
butchery  of  his  mistress  before  his  eyes  he  went 
into  exile,  leaving  to  his  son  the  extrication  of 
the  Empire  from  confusion  and  to  posterity  the 
memory  of  a  reign  which  has  sometimes  been 
compared  with  that  of  Louis  XV  of  France. 
Suh-tsung  did  his  best  from  A.  D.  756  to  762,  but, 
in  spite  of  the  prowess  of  the  renowned  general 
Kwoh-tsze-i,  whose  exploits  cover  the  reigns  of 
four  successive  Emperors,  it  was  already  manifest 
that  the  prestige  of  the  T'ang  line  was  on  the 
wane,  and  its  former  glories  in  danger  of  being 
forgotten.  Weakling  followed  weakling  upon  the 
throne  and  the  whole  story  is  one  inglorious  and 
monotonous  record  of  dissension,  misrule,  and  im- 
potent exposure  to  foreign  foes. 

THE  REFORMS  OF  YANG  YEN.  A  brief  men- 
tion should  be  made,  ere  we  leave  the  history  of 
the  T'ang  period,  of  an  attempt  made  during  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Teh  Tsung  (A.  D.  780- 
805)  to  reform  the  then  existing  system  of  taxa- 
tion. The  official  responsible  for  the  effort  was 
the  Minister  of  State,  Yang  Yen,  who  was  raised 
by  the  above  named  Emperor  from  an  inferior 
station.  "The  three  existing  forms  of  monetary 
and  personal  obligation  towards  the  State,  known 
respectively  as  land-tax,  statutory  labor,  and  pay- 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  127 

ment  in  kind,  were  abolished,  and  in  their  stead 
a  semi-annual  collection  of  money-tax  was  intro- 
duced, an  entirely  new  assessment  throughout  the 
Empire  forming  its  basis." 5  The  result,  how- 
ever, was  not  satisfactory,  and  the  unsuccessful 
political  economist  was  banished,  and,  before 
reaching  his  intended  destination  strangled  by 
the  Emperor's  order. 

WU-TSUNG.  A.  D.  841-847.  Wu-tsung  de- 
taches himself  a  little  from  the  other  monarchs 
of  the  9th  Century  and  gains  a  certain  sinister 
interest  as  the  furious  persecutor  of  Buddhism. 
He  believed  that  the  social  weakness  and  military 
incapacity  of  the  Empire  was  largely  due  to  the 
multiplication  of  monasteries  and  nunneries  and 
the  consequent  withdrawal  of  large  numbers  of 
men  and  women  from  the  duties  and  responsibil- 
ities of  civil  life.  Certainly  there  was  something 
to  be  said  for  his  view.  The  8th  Century  had 
witnessed  a  remarkable  revival  of  Buddhism  with 
a  corresponding  tendency  to  the  multiplication  of 
monasteries.  "Generals  forsook  their  armies, 
ministers  their  portfolios,  members  of  the  Im- 
perial family  their  palaces,  and  merchants  their 
business  and  their  families  to  build  or  dwell  in  mon- 
asteries away  from  the  clash  of  arms,  the  cares  of 
State,  or  the  din  and  bustle  of  life."  6  The  Chi- 
nese records  state  that  four  thousand  six  hundred 
monasteries  were  destroyed  in  this  persecution 
and  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a  million  monks  and 
nuns  sent  back  to  the  secular  life.  It  is  evident 


128     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

that  not  only  Buddhists  but  Christians,  Magians 
and  Manicheans  also  were  attacked  by  this  out- 
burst of  intolerance  and  it  is  probable  that  it 
was  through  this  persecution  that  the  hopes  in- 
scribed upon  the  Nestorian  tablet  of  Si-ngan-fu 
were  so  untimely  blighted.  The  proscription  of 
Buddhism  appears,  however,  to  have  lasted  but  a 
few  years,  since  we  find  that  the  monasteries  were 
once  again  occupied  and  recognized  under  I 
tsung  in  A.  D.  860.  The  opportune  finding  of  a 
relic  of  the  Buddha,  which  was  transported  to  the 
capital  amid  great  manifestation  of  popular  en- 
thusiasm, had  something  to  do,  no  doubt,  with 
this  change  of  policy  in  the  direction  of  toler- 
ance. 

END  OF  THE  DYNASTY.  To  onlookers  at  this 
time  the  T'ang  dynasty  was  plainly  doomed. 
The  Arab  traders  then  at  Canton  compared  the 
condition  of  China  with  that  of  the  Macedonian 
Empire  on  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  general  Li  Yuen  is  found  at  the  end  of  the 
9th  Century  struggling  against  his  ambitions  on 
the  one  hand  and  yet  hopeless  of  loyalty,  waver- 
ing between  the  policy  based  on  his  respect  for 
the  past  and  that  suggested  by  desire  to  make 
secure  the  future.  He  assassinated  one  monarch 
in  order  to  place  another,  a  mere  infant,  upon 
the  throne.  But  the  temptations  and  opportuni- 
ties of  power  proved  too  strong  for  his  loyalty 
to  the  T'angs  and,  hardly  two  years  after,j,spite 
of  the  protests  and  warnings  of  his  elder 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  129 

brother,  Li  Yuen  proclaimed  himself  the  first 
sovereign  of  a  new  dynasty,  to  be  known  in  his- 
tory as  that  of  the  Later  Liang. 

POETRY  UNDEK  THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY.  For  many 
reasons  the  T'ang  dynasty  deserves  the  name  of 
the  Golden  Era  of  Chinese  history.  Only  a  brief 
reference  may  here  be  made  to  several  phases  of 
this  renown.  Foremost  in  splendor  is  the  poetry 
of  the  age.  "Poetry,"  says  a  modern  Chinese 
writer,  "reached  perfection  under  the  T'angs." 
The  "Complete  Collection  of  the  Poetry  of  the 
T'ang  Period"  contains  48,900  poems  in  thirty 
volumes. 

Li  Po.  Many  of  these  poets  were,  as  in  the 
preceding  age,  men  of  disreputable  character, 
such  as  Wang  Po,  who  had  to  get  drunk  before 
he  could  write.  But  the  age  is  represented  also 
by  two  celebrated  poets,  Tu  fu,  and  (the  most 
widely  celebrated  of  all  Chinese  poets)  Li  po. 
Li  po  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  characters 
in  Chinese  literature.  Endowed  with  every  grace 
of  person,  a  lover  of  wine  and  song,  he  went  up 
confidently  to  the  capital  to  compete  for  literary 
honors.  But  he  refused  to  make  the  customary 
presents  to  the  examiners,  such  as  ordinarily  en- 
sured success.  Consequently  the  examiners,  one 
of  whom  was  a  brother  of  the  Empress,  treated 
him  with  contempt  and  pronounced  his  effort  a 
failure.  One  said,  "This  scribbler  is  fit  for  noth- 
ing but  to  grind  my  ink."  The  other  added, 
"He  is  good  for  nothing  but  to  lace  up  my  bus- 


130     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

kins."  Li  then  and  there  registered  a  vow  that 
the  time  should  come  when  the  insult  should 
be  avenged  by  the  one  examiner  grinding  his  ink 
and  the  other  lacing  his  buskins.  The  day  came 
when  this  proud  boast  was  fulfilled.  Li,  now  a 
doctor  of  the  Han-lin,  in  the  presence  of  the  Em- 
peror commanded  the  First  Minister  of  State, 
his  quondam  examiner,  to  rub  his  ink-stone,  and 
the  other,  who  was  now  General  of  the  Guards, 
to  lace  up  his  buskins.  Li  Po,  however,  did  not 
greatly  enjoy  the  triumph  of  his  talent,  for  after 
narrowly  escaping  the  penalty  of  death  for  sedi- 
tion, he  drowned  himself  to  escape  the  persecu- 
tion of  his  enemies.  He  exclaimed  as  he  jumped 
into  the  water:  "I'm  going  to  catch  the  moon 
in  the  midst  of  the  sea."  7  A  less  romantic  ac- 
count of  Li  Po's  end  is  that  he  was  drunk  and 
fell  into  the  sea  from  leaning  too  far  over  the 
edge  of  the  boat. 

Tu  Fu,  who  has  been  called  the  "Chatterton  of 
China,"  likewise  came  to  a  tragic  end.  He  "failed 
to  distinguish  himself  at  the  public  examinations, 
at  which  verse-making  counts  so  much,  but  had 
nevertheless  so  high  an  opinion  of  his  own  poetry 
that  he  prescribed  it  as  a  cure  for  malarial 
fever." 8  Like  so  many  of  his  companions  of 
the  muse,  in  China,  he  died  of  dissipation,  or  to 
put  it  more  charitably,  after  starving  for  ten 
days  during  which  he  had  nothing  to  eat  but 
roots,  he  feasted  too  heartily  on  roast  beef  and 
white  wine  and  died  upon  the  steps  of  a  temple. 


THE  T'ANG  DYNASTY  131 

His  collected  works,  like  those  of  Li  Po,  are  pre- 
served in  the  Royal  Library.9 

CHANG  CHIH  Ho.  Of  an  entirely  different 
stamp  was  the  Taoist  philosopher,  Chang  Chih 
Ho,  who  called  himself  "The  old  Fisherman  of  the 
Mists  and  Waters."  He  spent  his  time  in 
angling,  but  used  no  bait,  his  object  not  being  to 
catch  fish.  When  asked  why  he  roamed  about, 
Chang  answered  and  said:  "With  the  Empyrean 
as  my  home,  the  bright  moon  my  companion,  and 
the  four  seas  my  inseparable  friends, — what  mean 
you  by  roaming?"  And  when  a  friend  offered 
him  a  comfortable  home  instead  of  his  poor  boat, 
he  replied:  "I  prefer  to  follow  the  gulls  into 
cloudland  rather  than  bury  myself  beneath  the 
dust  of  the  world."  10 

HAN  Yu.  A  scholar,  who  deserves  to  be  men- 
tioned on  other  grounds,  than  that  he  was  a 
celebrated  poet,  is  Han  Yu,  described  as  foremost 
among  the  statesmen,  philosophers,  and  poets  of 
the  T'ang  dynasty,  and  one  of  the  most  venerated 
names  in  Chinese  literature.  As  a  philosopher 
he  took  a  middle  ground  between  those  who  with 
Confucius  and  Mencius  maintained  that  the  na- 
ture of  man  is  innately  good  and  those  who  be- 
lieved it  to  be  naturally  depraved.  His  doctrine, 
we  are  told,  found  much  acceptance.  He  was 
foremost  among  those  who  protested  to  the  Em- 
peror against  the  reverence  paid  to  the  alleged 
Buddha  relic,  mentioned  above.  For  this  candor 
he  was  banished,  but  he  used  his  time  of  exile  to 


OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

good  purpose.  His  labors  for  the  civilization  of 
the  people  of  Kwang  tung  have  been  symbolized 
in  the  story  of  the  expulsion  of  a  gigantic  croco- 
dile which  had  been  ravaging  the  province. 

ART.  Of  the  splendid  art  of  the  period  some 
idea  may  be  gained  from  a  study  of  the  pictures 
brought  away  from  the  oasis  of  Tun  huang  in 
Eastern  Turkestan  by  Dr.  Stein.  Many  of  them 
may  now  be  seen  in  the  British  Museum.  They 
deal  largely  with  Buddhist  subjects  and  are  of  a 
very  high  order  of  excellence.11  The  greatest 
painter  of  the  period,  indeed  of  all  periods  in 
China,  was  Wu  Tao  Tsz.  No  work  at  present 
exists  which  can  with  certainty  be  ascribed  to  him, 
but  a  Japanese  picture  in  the  British  Museum, 
"The  Death  of  Buddha,"  founded  on  one  of  his 
masterpieces,  may  give  some  idea  of  his  origi- 
nality and  power.12  The  story  is  told  that  when 
men  criticised  adversely  the  famous  picture  of 
the  "Western  Paradise,"  Wu  Tao  Tsz  answered 
his  critics  by  stepping  calmly  into  the  Paradise 
which  he  had  painted,  and  so  disappeared  from 
the  sight  of  men. 

The  pottery,  too,  of  the  T'ang  period  is  re- 
markable for  its  artistic  worth,  especially  the 
grace  and  beauty  of  its 'lines.13 

COMMERCE.  China  now  was  widely  known 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  Arab  traders, 
pushing  out  from  India  and  the  Malay  peninsula, 
began  to  establish  trading  stations  at  Canton 
and  other  Chinese  ports.  In  A.  D.  751  they 


THE  TANG  DYNASTY  133 

erected  in  Canton  a  pagoda  or  minaret  which 
still  stands.  They  presumed  so  much  on  their 
right  to  remain  for  trade  that  they  occasionally 
also  claimed  the  privilege  of  burning  and  pillag- 
ing. The  traveler,  Ibn  Wahab,  has  left  us  a  very 
interesting  account  of  travels  in  China  in  the 
9th  Century.14  A  large  number  of  foreigners 
seem  to  have  been  at  this  time  permanently  resi- 
dent in  China.  At  the  close  of  the  8th  Century 
four  thousand  foreign  families  are  said  to  have 
been  settled  in  the  capital.  That  China  was  not 
unacquainted  with  the  political  condition  of  the 
outside  world  we  may  gather  from  the  remark  of 
a  T'ang  Emperor  quoted  in  the  Arab  "Chain  of 
Chronicles"  to  the  effect  that  there  were  five 
great  sovereigns,  viz:  The  King  of  Irak  (the 
Khalif),  who  was  King  of  Kings;  the  King  of 
China,  who  was  King  of  Men ;  the  King  of  Turks, 
who  was  King  of  wildmen ;  the  King  of  India,  who 
was  King  of  elephants;  and  the  King  of  Rome, 
who  was  King  of  fine  men.15 

POPULATION.  It  may  be  worth  adding  that  a 
census  taken  of  the  Fifteen  Provinces  in  the  year 
A.  D.  754  showed  that  the  Empire  at  this  epoch 
contained  nine  and  a  half  million  families,  or 
nearly  fifty-three  million  individuals. 


NOTES 

1.  There   are  many  good  accounts,  with  transla- 
tions,  of   the   Inscription   of   Si-ngan-fu.     Those   of 
Pauthier,  Legge  and  Wells  Williams  may  all  be  con- 
sulted with  advantage.     There  is  also  a  more  recent 
description,  with  some  good  photographs,  by  Nichols 
in  "Through  Hidden  Shensi." 

2.  "Ruins  of  Desert  Cathay/'  II  211  ff. 

3.  Pauthier,  "Chine,"  p.  294. 

4.  The  poet  Po-chu-i  has  a  really  striking  poem 
on  the  lady  Yang  and  her  tragic  fate,  commencing — 

"His   imperial   Majesty,   a  slave  to  beauty, 
Longed  for  a  'subverter  of  Empires'; 
For  years  he  had  sought  in  vain 
To  secure  such  a  treasure  for  his  palace 
From  the  Yang  family  came  a  maiden,"  etc. 

5.  Wm.  F.  Mayers. 

6.  Ross. 

7.  S.  Wells  Williams,  "The  Middle  Kingdom,"  I 
70S. 

8.  Giles,    "Chinese   Biographical   Dictionary." 

9.  Remusat,  "Nouveaux  Melanges  Asiatiques,"  II 
174. 

10.  Giles,  "History  of  Chinese  Literature." 

11.  Catalogue  of  Exhibition  of  Chinese  and  Jap- 
anese Pictures  in  the  British  Museum. 

12.  Br.  Mus.  Cat.,  109. 

13.  Brinkley's      "China."     Section      on      "Early 
Wares  of  China." 

14.  Kerr's  "Collection  of  Travels,"  I  47  ff. 

15.  Kerr,  I  75. 

134 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  FIVE  LITTLE  DYNASTIES 
A.  D.  907-960. 

The  Wu  tai — shifting  of  Capital — Shi-tsung — 
Ch  a  o — Kwang-yin . 

THE  Wu  TAI.  On  the  fall  of  the  T'ang  dy- 
nasty the  situation  in  China  was  not  unlike  that 
in  Europe  about  the  same  time,  and  in  the  course 
of  fifty  years  we  find  five  short-lived  dynasties 
which  are  known  respectively  as  the  Later  Liang, 
the  Later  T'ang,  the  Later  Tsin,  the  Later  Han, 
and  the  Later  Chou.  They  reveal  their  inferior 
and  dependent  character  by  thus  seeking  to  bor- 
row from  the  reputation  of  previous  dynasties. 
None  of  them  had  more  than  a  local  authority 
and  in  some  cases  their  sway  was  restricted  to 
one  or  two  provinces.  In  the  meantime  the 
southern  provinces  for  the  most  part  managed 
their  affairs  without  any  Imperial  interference 
whatsoever.  It  was  essentially  a  time  for  des- 
peradoes and  soldiers  of  fortune.  "To  give  peace 
to  the  Empire,'*  said  the  counselor  Shih  Hung 
Chao,  "and  put  down  rebellion,  a  good  sword 
and  a  long  spear  are  wanted:  of  what  use  is  a 
hair-awl?"  The  independence  of  China  was,  dur- 
135 


136     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

ing  this  period,  maintained  with  very  great  diffi- 
culty and  lavish  presents,  and  even  actual  tribute, 
had  to  be  paid  to  the  border  tribes  by  sovereigns 
of  the  later  Tsin  dynasty.  It  was  this  ignominy 
which  caused  this  particular  line  to  be  described 
as  "the  meanest  house  which  ever  swayed  the 
black-haired  people." 

So  far  as  the  Empire  in  this  sordid  period  had 
any  center  at  all  the  capital  was  sometimes  at 
Si-ngan-fu  and  sometimes  at  Kai-fung-fu  on  the 
Hwang-ho. 

SHIH-TSUNG.  A.  D.  954-959.  One  solitary 
figure  awakens  our  respect  and  sympathy  at  the 
close  in  Kuo  Jung,  who  came  to  the  throne  as  the 
second  of  the  Later  Chou  Emperors  in  A.  D.  954. 
To  ensure  humility  in  his  high  station,  the  young 
king,  whose  throne  name  was  Shih  tsung,  pre- 
served in  his  palace  the  plow  and  other  implements 
of  labor  such  as  should  serve  to  remind  him  of  his 
former  low  estate.1 

In  the  time  of  famine  he  opened  the  public 
granaries  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  starving 
populace  and  sold  to  the  poor  on  credit.  When 
reminded  by  his  ministers  that  the  payments 
might  never  be  made,  Shih  tsung  replied  that  he 
was  the  father  of  the  people  and  could  not  see 
his  children  suffer.  He  melted  the  idols  of  the 
temple  in  order  to  coin  money,  which  had  become 
very  scarce.  Buddha  himself,  he  said,  who  did 
so  much  for  men,  would  certainly  raise  no  objec- 
tions. He  encouraged  learning,  and  waged  sue- 


THE  FIVE  LITTLE  DYNASTIES     187 

cessful  wars  against  the  Khitans  and  Northern 
Hans,  but  his  death  at  the  early  age  of  thirty- 
nine  put  an  end  to  the  hopes  of  the  people.  The 
child  heir,  a  boy  of  only  six  years  old,  was  ad- 
judged unequal  to  the  difficulties  of  a  time  so 
"out  of  joint"  and  by  popular  acclamation  the 
crown  was  conferred  upon  the  head  of  the  army, 
the  general  Chao  Kwang-ym,  with  whom  begins 
the  new  dynasty  of  Sung. 


NOTE 

1.  Cf.  the  story  of  Kawah  and  the  blacksmith's 
apron  (Shah-Nameh)  and  the  Japanese  story  of 
Hideyoshi  and  the  soldier's  water  gourd. 


138 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  SUNG  DYNASTY 

A.  D.  960-1279. 

General  Summary — Tai  Tsu  and  his  succes- 
sors— the  Kin  Tatars — Jenghiz  Khan — conquest 
of  the  Southern  Sungs — Wang-an-shih — Sze  Ma 
Kiang — the  Sung  Philosophers — the  Sung  Art. 

GENERAL  SUMMARY.  The  history  of  the 
Sung  Dynasty,  including  as  it  does  the  reigns  of 
eighteen  Emperors,  must  be  divided  into  two  por- 
tions. The  former  deals  with  the  Sung  Dynasty 
proper,  when  the  rulers  of  this  line  reigned  over 
the  whole  land.  This  period  continues  until  the 
conquest  of  the  provinces  north  of  the  Yang 
tsze  Kiang  by  the  Tatars  in  A.  D.  1127.  The 
second  part  concerns  the  line  generally  known  as 
that  of  the  Southern  Sungs,  and  includes  the 
sovereigns  who  ruled  south  of  the  Yang  tsze 
Kiang  up  to  the  time  of  Kublai  Khan. 

T'AI  Tsu  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.  The  general 
Chao  Kwang  Yin  was  chosen  much  as  were  some 
of  the  later  Roman  Emperors  by  the  Prfetorian 
guard.  The  soldiers  found  him  drunk,  threw  over 
him  the  Yellow  Robe  before  he  could  say  Yea  or 

Nay,  made  a  sudden  resolution  to  supersede  the 
139 


six  year  old  sovereign  by  their  generalissimo,  and 
so  proclaimed  him  Emperor.  It  was  an  unprom- 
ising beginning,  but  T'ai  Tsu,  as  he  called  him- 
self, did  much  better  than  might  have  been  ex- 
pected. He  was  a  good  soldier,  of  powerful 
physique  and  great  personal  bravery.  Simple  in 
his  tastes,  he  was  hospitable  to  all ;  his  house,  he 
said,  was  like  his  heart,  open  to  all.  He  gave 
away  his  own  fur  coat  to  a  soldier,  saying  that  he 
wished  he  could  in  like  manner  provide  for  every 
soldier  in  the  army.  He  was,  moreover,  as  a 
ruler,  conscientious  in  the  fulfillment  of  his  duties. 
"Do  you  think,"  he  said,  "that  it  is  so  easy  for  a 
sovereign  to  perform  his  duties?  He  does  noth- 
ing that  is  without  consequence.  This  morning 
the  thought  occurs  to  me  that  yesterday  I  de- 
cided a  case  in  a  wrong  manner,  and  this  memory 
robs  me  of  all  joy."  As  he  lived,  so  he  died,  in 
camp  among  his  soldiers.  War  was  carried  on 
during  the  reign  more  or  less  constantly  with  the 
Khitan  Tatars  and  continued  throughout  the 
reign  of  the  succeeding  Emperor  T'ai  Tsung. 
A.  D.  976-997.  From  a  distance  the  history  of 
the  time  appears  as  a  period  of  disgraceful  treat- 
ies, threatened  invasions,  and  proffered  tribute. 
But  there  are  interludes  of  comparative  peace 
and  prosperity.  T'ai  Tsung  was  unable  to  over- 
come the  Khitan  power  in  the  north  but  he  suc- 
ceeded fairly  well  in  overcoming  the  resistance  to 
his  rule  on  the  part  of  the  Han  states  to  the 
south.  His  successor  secured  eighteen  years  of 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  141 

peace  by  paying  tribute  to  the  Tatars.  Then 
came  Jen-tsung,  A.  D.  1023-1064,  whose  early 
years  were  advantageously  influenced  by  his 
mother,  a  woman  of  unusual  capacity  and  good 
sense.  These  ten  peaceful  years,  however,  were 
followed  by  the  rise  of  a  new  power  in  the  north- 
west, the  Tangutan,  which  had  ultimately  to  be 
bought  off  with  an  annual  payment  of  100,000 
pieces  of  silk  and  30,000  pounds  of  tea.  The 
Khitan  Tatars  who  had  now  established  them- 
selves, as  the  Liao,  or  Iron  Dynasty,  in  the  Liao- 
tung  peninsula,  took  advantage  of  the  situation 
to  secure  the  promise  for  themselves  also  of  an 
annual  tribute,  in  this  case  of  200,000  taels  of 
silver  and  a  large  quantity  of  silk. 

CHEH-TSUNG,  A.  D.  1086-1101,  was  another 
boy  king  who  was  fortunate  in  a  wise  and  capable 
mother.  Her  rule  was  much  more  profitable  to 
the  Empire  than  that  which  followed  when  the 
young  prince  attained  his  majority.  When  he 
did  wrong  there  were  censors  who  were  brave 
enough  to  rebuke  the  appeal  to  bad  imperial  pre- 
cedents. "You  would  do  better,"  they  said,  "to 
imitate  their  virtues  rather  than  their  vices." 
But  apparently  Cheh  tsung  preferred  the  vices  to 
the  virtues.  He  died  without  taking  the  trouble 
to  select  an  heir,  thinking  that  he  would  not  die 
so  soon,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother,  Hwei 
tsung. 

THE  KIN  TATAKS.  It  was  Hwei  tsung,  A.  D. 
1101-1126,  who  adopted  the  fatal  policy  of  at- 


14,2     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

tempting  the  expulsion  of  one  enemy  by  the  em- 
ployment of  another.  The  Kin  Tatars,  the  an- 
cestors of  the  present  Manchus,  a  branch  of  the 
Tatar  race,  settled  near  the  river  Sungari,  were 
only  too  ready  to  accept  the  invitation.  Their 
kinsmen  had  established  what  they  called  the 
Liao,  or  Iron  Dynasty.  They  called  themselves 
the  Kin,  or  Gold  Tatars,  for,  said  they,  "Iron 
rusts,  gold  lasts."  Therefore  they  prepared 
cheerfully  to  fight  the  Khitans,  to  whom  they 
were  superior  in  military  tactics  and  especially 
in  the  almost  exclusive  use  of  cavalry.  Their 
wild  charges  of  horsemen  were  not  a  little 
dreaded.  "Worse  than  wolves  and  tigers"  was 
the  verdict  of  their  enemies.  They  succeeded 
completely  in  the  expulsion  of  the  Khitans,  but, 
after  the  manner  of  such  dangerous  auxiliaries, 
they  did  not  consider  the  performance  of  this  task 
sufficient  and  proceeded  further  to  the  conquest 
of  their  employers.  In  this  too  they  succeeded, 
so  well  indeed  that,  from  A.  D.  1127,  the  Sungs 
lost  their  sway  in  all  the  region  north  of  the 
Yang  tsze  Kiang.  The  Chinese  were  completely 
demoralized  by  the  furious  onslaughts  of  the 
Tatar  cavalrymen  and  made  no  stand  even  at 
places  where  a  desperate  resistance  might  have 
been  expected.  In  the  south  a  son  of  Hwei  tsung 
rallied  his  countrymen  and  gave  new  vigor  to  the 
Sung  dynasty  within  its  now  restricted  area,  but 
during  all  the  century  that  followed  China  was 
practically  two  Empires,  with  two  capitals.  In 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  143 

the  north  was  Chung-tu,  not  far  from  the  site 
which  soon  became  that  of  Pe-king  (i.e.  Northern 
Capital).  In  the  south  was,  first  of  all,  Nan- 
king (i.e.  Southern  Capital),  and  afterwards 
Hang-chau.  Of  the  first  and  last  of  these  three 
great  cities  Marco  Polo  has  left  us  most  inter- 
esting descriptions.1 

JENGHIZ  KHAN.  Further  trouble  came  to  the 
distracted  north,  even  while  the  Kin  Tatars  were 
absorbed  in  their  contest  with  the  Southern 
Sungs,  through  the  epoch-making  career  of 
Jenghiz  Khan,  A.  D.  1162-1227.2  From  A.  D. 
1207  the  great  conqueror  was  taking  the  prelimi- 
nary steps  for  the  subjugation  of  China,  by  the 
reduction  of  the  states  to  the  north.  In  A.  D. 
1211  he  advanced  towards  China  itself  and  dev- 
astated the  provinces  of  Chih-li,  Shan-si,  and 
Shen-si.  But  a  severe  wound  compelled  him  to 
retire,  leaving  the  Khitan  monarch  a  vassal  in 
Liao  tung.  The  following  year  he  returned  and 
ninety  cities  in  the  northern  provinces  were  so 
completely  destroyed  that  it  was  said  a  horse- 
man could  ride  over  their  sites  without  stumbling. 
In  vain  was  the  capital  moved  from  Chung  tu 
back  to  Kai-feng-fu.  The  campaign  of  desola- 
tion went  on  and  from  A.  D.  1220  for  at  least  five 
years  the  ruthless  conqueror  made  the  land  waste 
as  a  desert.  Millions  of  lives  were  sacrificed  dur- 
ing these  terrible  years.  At  last  an  unfavorable 
conjunction  of  planets  impressed  the  superstitious 
Mongol  with  the  presentiment  of  his  approaching 


144     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

doom.  He  set  his  face  westward,  but  had  only 
reached  the  Si-kiang  in  Kan-suh,  when  he  was 
seized  with  illness.  Shortly  afterwards,  at  the 
camp  in  the  province  of  Shan-si,  on  August  27th, 
A.  D.  1227,  he  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five, 
leaving  behind  him  a  bloody  renown  at  which 
every  reader  of  history  must  shudder.  Never- 
theless, the  verdict  is  a  just  one, — "He  is  remem- 
bered as  a  relentless  and  irresistible  conqueror,  a 
human  scourge;  but  he  was  much  more.  He  was 
one  of  the  greatest  instruments  of  destiny,  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  molders  of  the  fate  of  na- 
tions to  be  met  with  in  the  history  of  the  world. 
His  name  still  overshadows  Asia  with  its  fame, 
and  the  tribute  of  our  admiration  cannot  be  de- 
nied." 3 

CONQUEST  or  THE  SOUTHERN  SUNGS.  Ogdai, 
son  and  successor  of  Jenghiz,  continued  the  cam- 
paign of  devastation  until  his  death  in  A.  D. 
1241.  The  Kin  Emperor  in  the  north  held  out 
in  his  new  capital,  Ju-ning-fu,  until  all  the  aged 
and  infirm  had  been  slaughtered  to  lessen  the 
ravages  of  famine,  till  all  the  able-bodied  men 
had  fallen,  and  women  alone  were  left  to  guard 
the  walls.  Then  he  set  fire  to  the  city  and  burned 
himself  alive  in  his  palace,  so  that  the  storming 
parties  of  the  allies  found  only  a  smoking  ruin. 
So  ended  the  Kin  dynasty  of  the  north,  a  line 
whose  nine  Emperors  had  ruled  in  that  part  of 
China  just  a  hundred  and  eighteen  years.  The 
Sungs  in  the  south,  whose  folly  had  brought  the 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  145 

Mongol  invaders  to  their  very  borders,  held  out 
for  some  time  longer  against  the  victors,  but  the 
war  was  pressed  by  the  new  Khan,  Mangu,  son  of 
Tule,  Ogdai's  brother,  with  such  vigor  that  ulti- 
mate success  was  made  certain.  More  than  once, 
however,  there  were  heroic  episodes  which  go  to 
show  that  the  Sungs  had  not  altogether  lost  their 
early  soldier-like  qualities.  One  incident  in  par- 
ticular deserves  much  wider  fame  than  it  has  ever 
yet  succeeded  in  gaining,  namely,  the  five  years' 
defense  of  the  city  of  Si-an  Yang.  The  heroism 
of  the  two  captains,  Chang  kwun  and  Chang  kwa, 
who  "broke  through  all"  to  reprovision  the  starv- 
ing city,  and  the  magnificent  valor  of  Chang  Kwa 
in  attempting  to  cut  his  way  out  again  when  his 
task  had  been  successfully  accomplished,  has 
moved  a  modern  writer  to  say,  "A  Chinese  his- 
torian might  be  pardoned  for  placing  this  episode 
on  a  par  with  Sir  Richard  Grenville's  defense  of 
the  'Revenge.' '  But  there  has  been  so  far  lack- 
ing a  Tennyson  to  make  the  ballad  of  Si-an  Yang. 
The  death  of  Mangu  in  A.  D.  1259,  and  the  ac- 
cession of  his  able  younger  brother,  Kublai  Khan, 
marks  the  point  at  which  it  may  be  said  that  the 
Sung  dynasty  had  ceased  to  exist  and  the  new 
era,  to  be  known  as  the  Yuan  (original)  or  Mon- 
gol dynasty  had  begun.  Still  for  twenty  years 
more  resistance  went  on.  Brave  generals,  de- 
voted to  the  Sung  cause,  set  up  one  puppet  king 
after  another,  but  all  in  vain.  The  last  stand 
was  made  by  the  two  faithful  generals,  Chang 


She  Kieh  and  Lu  Sin  Fu,  at  an  island  off  Canton. 
The  retreat  after  some  months  was  carried  by 
storm,  and,  when  Lu  Sin  Fu  had  seen  to  the  sui- 
cide of  his  wife  and  children,  he  clasped  the  last 
claimant  of  the  Sung  throne,  the  child  Ti  ping, 
in  his  arms  and  leaped  with  him  into  the  sea. 
"Thus  perished  the  dynasty  of  Sung."  The 
minister  of  the  dead  king,  Wen  Tien  Tiang  (a 
very  sympathetic  figure  in  Chinese  history)  was 
made  prisoner,  carried  to  the  court  of  Kublai 
Khan,  and  there,  preferring  death  to  the  renun- 
ciation of  his  allegiance  to  the  fallen  dynasty, 
was  finally  slain. 

WANG-AN-SHIH.  Perhaps  the  most  remarkable 
and  interesting  figure  of  the  llth  Century  in 
China  was  the  socialist  philosopher  and  states- 
man, Wang-an-shih,  who  lived  under  the  reigns 
of  Chin-tsung  and  Tin-tsung.  He  was  born 
A.  D.  1021  in  the  province  of  Kiang-si,  and  was  a 
son  of  a  secretary  to  one  of  the  Boards.  As  a 
scholar  he  distinguished  himself  from  the  first, 
making  his  pen  "to  fly  over  the  paper"  at  the  ex- 
aminations. His  early  essays  in  literature  at- 
tracted attention  and  gained  him  official  position, 
first  as  magistrate,  then  as  judge,  then  as  ex- 
positor in  the  Han-lin  College,  and  in  A.  D.  1069 
as  State  Counselor  to  the  Emperor.  He  was  a 
reformer  along  radical  lines  from  the  very  first, 
though  basing  his  reforms  on  ancient  precedents. 
He  was  a  devoted  student  of  the  classics  of  which 
he  caused  new  editions  to  be  made  in  order  that 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  147 

the  people  might  understand  the  real  teaching  of 
the  Canon.  He  studied  other  literature  as  well. 
"I  have  been,"  he  writes,  "an  omnivorous  reader 
of  Books  of  all  kinds,  even,  for  example,  of  an- 
cient medical  and  botanical  works.  I  have,  more- 
over, dipped  into  treatises  of  agriculture  and  on 
needlework,  all  of  which  I  have  found  very  prof- 
itable in  aiding  me  to  seize  the  great  scheme  of 
the  Canon  itself."  He  was  above  all  things  prac- 
tical, and  made  a  brave,  though  eventually  futile, 
attack  on  the  even  then  venerable  system  of  edu- 
cation. For  a  time,  says  a  Chinese  writer,  "even 
the  pupils  at  village  schools  threw  away  their  text- 
books of  rhetoric  and  began  to  study  primers  of 
history,  geography,  and  political  economy."  For 
many  years  the  opposition  between  Wang-an-shih 
and  the  historian  Sze  Ma  Kiang  divided  China, 
into  two  great  political  camps.  The  former 
thought  it  his  mission  to  change  and  regenerate; 
the  latter  was  equally  earnest  in  resisting  the 
torrent  and  appealed  constantly  to  the  traditions 
of  the  past  and  to  the  generally  conservative 
spirit  of  the  race.  The  dispute  grew  more  and 
more  embittered  until  the  accession  of  Shin-tsung 
gave  Wang-an-shih  an  opportunity  to  put  his 
theories  into  practice.  His  main  principle  was 
the  duty  of  the  Emperor  to  provide  for  all  his 
people  at  least  the  opportunity  to  procure  the 
necessaries  of  life.  "The  State,"  he  said, 
"should  take  the  entire  management  of  commerce, 
industry  and  agriculture  into  its  own  hands  with 


148     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

a  view  to  succoring  the  working  classes  and  pre- 
venting them  being  ground  into  the  dust  by  the 
rich."  He  caused  the  establishment  of  tribunals 
throughout  the  land  to  regulate  the  daily  wage 
and  the  daily  price  of  merchandise.  The  soil 
was  measured,  divided  into  equal  areas,  graded 
according  to  its  fertility,  in  order  that  there 
might  be  a  new  basis  of  taxation.  The  produce 
of  the  land  was  no  longer  to  be  sent  to  the  capital 
for  sale  on  behalf  of  the  Imperial  Exchequer,  but 
used,  first,  for  the  payment  of  taxes,  secondly  for 
the  needs  of  the  district  in  which  it  was  produced, 
and  thirdly,  for  sale  to  the  Government  of  the  re- 
mainder at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  practicable  to  await 
an  increase  in  value,  or  to  supply  the  needs  of 
other  districts.  The  taxes  were  to  be  provided 
by  the  rich  and  the  poor  were  to  be  exempt. 
Large  reserves  of  money  were  to  be  kept  by  the 
State  to  provide  pensions  for  the  aged,  support 
for  the  unemployed,  and  help  for  the  needy  gen- 
erally. Other  tribunals  were  established  for  the 
distribution  of  seed  for  sowing  in  the  waste  lands. 
These  were  to  be  cultivated  by  those  who  had  no 
other  work,  on  the  sole  condition  that  they  should 
repay  from  the  harvest  the  cost  of  the  seed.  To 
secure  protection  against  foreign  enemies  Wang 
ordered  that  every  family  with  more  than  two 
males  should  furnish  one  to  serve  as  a  soldier, 
while  every  family  was  obliged  to  keep  a  horse, 
supplied  by  the  Government,  to  provide  cavalry 
in  case  of  need. 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  149 

Wang-an-shih  had  many  other  ideas,  especially 
interesting  to  us  in  these  days,  but  apparently 
his  theories  were  untimely,  for,  after  ten  years' 
experience  of  them,  the  nation  decided  upon  an 
entire  change  of  policy.  There  were  many 
causes,  indeed,  for  the  failure  of  this  great  epoch 
of  reform.  In  some  things  Wang  showed  a  lack 
of  experience  in  practical  statesmanship,  as,  for 
example,  when  he  abolished  all  restrictions  on  the 
export  of  copper,  with  the  result  that  "even  the 
copper  cash  were  melted  down  and  made  into  ar- 
ticles for  sale  and  exportation."  Wang  met  the 
resultant  panic  with  the  ingenious  plan  of  simply 
doubling  the  value  of  each  cash.  Again,  there 
was  the  objection  of  the  people  to  the  contem- 
plated militia,  the  antagonism  of  the  usurers  who 
were  largely  put  out  of  business,  the  dishonesty 
of  the  officials  who  collected  the  taxes  and  dis- 
tributed the  seed,  the  opposition  of  powerful  and 
influential  statesmen,  such  as  Wang-an-shih's  own 
brother,  Wang-an-kwoh,  Han  K'i,  Su  She,  and 
above  all,  the  great  rival,  Sze  Ma  Kiang.  Lastly, 
there  were  the  physical  calamities  of  drought  and 
flood  and  famine,  which  were  always  regarded  as 
the  results  of  bad  Government.  Wang-an-shih 
left  office  and  was  consoled  with  the  Governorship 
of  Nan-king.  He  died  in  A.  D.  1086  without 
seeing  again  any  accession  of  popular  or  Imperial 
favor.  Twenty  years  after  his  death  his  name 
was  set  up  in  the  Hall  of  Confucius  as  that  of  the 
greatest  thinker  since  Mencius.  But  soon  after- 


150     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

ward  it  was  removed  and  since  that  time  his  mem- 
ory has  been  belittled  and  his  reputation  aspersed. 
A  conservative  reaction  set  in ;  the  radicals  were 
banished  to  Mongolia  and  there,  it  is  said,  their 
unquiet  spirits  had  something  to  do  with  the  con- 
ditions which  made  possible  the  devastating  career 
of  Jenghiz  Khan.4 

SZE  MA  KIANG.  A  few  words  are  due  to 
Wang-an-shih's  great  rival,  Sze  Ma  Kiang,  who 
lived  from  A.  D.  1019  to  1086.5  He  is  famous 
alike  as  scholar,  poet,  historian  and  statesman. 
As  a  student  he  is  said  to  have  used  a  wooden  pil- 
low which  was  so  constructed  as  to  arouse  him  to 
wakefulness  whenever  he  got  too  sleepy  over  his 
work.  He  was  also  famous  for  the  reverent  care 
Avith  which  he  preserved  his  books.  His  readiness 
of  resource  in  these  early  days  is  illustrated  by 
the  following  story:  With  a  number  of  other 
boys  he  was  standing  near  a  large  vase  used  for 
the  keeping  of  gold-fish  when  one  of  his  compan- 
ions fell  in.  The  others  were  unable  to  reach  the 
top  and  too  terrified  to  think  of  anything  else, 
when  Kiang  took  up  a  big  stone  and  smashed  the 
vase.  So  he  enabled  the  water  to  run  out  and 
the  boy  to  escape.  As  a  poet  Sze  Ma  Kiang  is 
remembered  for  his  "Garden,"  of  which  a  delight- 
ful account  is  given  by  the  Abbe  Hue.  As  an  his- 
torian he  employed  the  years  of  his  exclusion  from 
office  (during  the  reform  government  of  Wang- 
an-shih)  in  writing,  amongst  other  important 
works,  the  great  "General  Mirror  to  aid  in  gov- 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  151 

erning."  Over  twenty  years  altogether  was  de- 
voted to  this  work,  which  was  finished  in  A.  D. 
1084.  It  consists  of  two  hundred  and  ninety- 
four  chapters  and  covers  the  period  from  the  5th 
Century  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  960.  As  a  statesman, 
Sze  Ma  Kiang  was,  as  we  have  seen,  a  conserva- 
tive. He  offered  to  his  Emperor  the  five  follow- 
ing Rules  of  Conduct:  1,  Guard  your  patri- 
mony; 2,  Value  time;  3,  Keep  sedition  at  a 
distance ;  4,  Be  cautious  over  details ;  5,  Aim 
at  reality.  He  was  always  outspoken  and  frank. 
"The  first  duty  of  a  censor,"  he  said,  "is  to  speak 
the  truth."  When  some  flatterer  told  the  Em- 
peror that  the  Ki-lin  (a  fabled  beast  whose  com- 
ing was  regarded  as  an  augury  of  prosperity) 
had  appeared  in  the  land,  the  gift  of  a  foreign 
potentate,  Sze  Ma  Kiang  replied  that  the  Ki-lin 
does  not  need  to  be  sent  from  abroad,  seeing  that 
it  appears  of  itself  whenever  the  land  is  well 
governed.  He  died  in  A.  D.  1086,  the  same  year 
in  which  passed  away  his  illustrious  rival. 

THE  SUNG  PHILOSOPHERS.  The  Sung  period, 
in  spite  of  its  unsettled  political  condition,  has 
always  been  favorably  known  as  a  period  of  spec- 
ulative philosophy.  Five  men  are  especially 
singled  out  as  eminent  exponents  of  truth  as  the 
Sung  age  understood  it.  These  are  Chao,  the 
two  Chengs,  Chang  and  Chu.  Cheng  Ch'ao  wrote 
a  history  of  China  of  which  an  edition  in  forty- 
six  volumes  was  published  in  1749  with  a  preface 
by  the  Emperor  Kien  Lung.  He  also  wrote  an 


152     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

authoritative  treatise  on  the  famous  Stone  Drums. 
Chu,  in  addition  to  his  philosophical  disquisitions, 
made  a  digest  of  Li  Tao's  extension  of  the  history 
of  Sze  Ma  Kiang,  which  still  remains  an  admirable 
summary  of  thirty-six  centuries  of  Chinese  his- 
tory. 

THE  SUNG  ART.  The  art  of  the  Sung  period 
was  of  rare  excellence.  The  examples  which  have 
come  down  to  us  are  few  in  number  but  are  suf- 
ficient to  show  its  range  and  dominant  character- 
istics. The  most  recognizable  influence  is  Taoist 
rather  than  Buddhist  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word.  More  accurately,  perhaps,  it  may  be  said 
to  be  in  large  part  the  reflection  of  the  Zen  sect 
of  Buddhism  which  had  been  "powerfully  influ- 
enced by  Lao  tsze's  thought."  "Man  is  not  con- 
ceived of  as  detached  from,  or  opposed  to,  ex- 
ternal nature ;  rather  is  the  thought  of  one  life 
or  one  soul  manifested  in  both,  so  that  the  spring- 
ing and  withering  of  the  wayside  grasses  are 
felt  to  be  something  really  related  to  the  human 
spirit  contemplating  them,  and  the  apparition  of 
beauty  in  fresh  snow,  or  rising  moon,  or  blos- 
soms opening  on  bare  spring  branches,  seems  the 
manifestation  of  a  life  and  power  in  which  men 
also  -share."  6  The  chief  painter  of  the  period 
was  Li  Lung  Mien. 

It  is  sad  to  be  obliged  to  recognize  that  the 
Sung  era,  which  in  art  and  literature  and  philoso- 
phy reached  such  heights  as  to  be  fitly  termed  the 
"Periclean  Age  of  China,"  should  have  been  po- 


THE  SUNG  DYNASTY  153 

litically  so  inglorious, — that  the  highest  achieve- 
ments in  the  departments  of  intellect  and  culture 
should  have  synchronized  so  painfully  with 
China's  first  real  experience  of  foreign  domina- 
tion.7 But  she  was  still  destined,  by  her  intelli- 
gence, to  conquer  the  brute  force  of  her  conquer- 
ors. 


NOTES 

1.  See  Yule's  "Marco  Polo,"  for  Peking  (Camba- 
luc),   I   348    ff;   for   Hang-chau    (Kin-say),   II    146- 
260. 

2.  For  the  life  of  Temuchin,  later  called  Jenghiz 
Khan,  see  Sir  Henry  Howorth,  "History  of  the  Mon- 
gols"; Jeremiah  Curtin's  "History  of  the  Mongols"; 
Sir.  R.  K.  Douglas'  "Life  of  Jenghiz  Khan." 

3.  D.  C.  Boulger,  "History  of  China." 

4.  See     Remusat,     "Nouveaux     Melanges     Asiat- 
iques";   A.   I.   Ivanova,   "Wang-an-shih  and   His   Re- 
forms," S.  Petersburg,   1909;  the  works  of  the  Abbe 
Hue,  etc.     "Ouang  anche  a  mon  avis  etoit  un  grand 
ministre,  que  les  Chinois,  attaches  trop  aveuglement 
a  leurs  anciens  usages,  n'ont  pas  sgu  connoitre,  et  a 
qui  ils  ne  rendent  pas  la  justice  qu'il  meritoit,"  Du 
Mailla,  T.  VIII,  p.  305. 

5.  See  Biography  by  Remusat  in  "Nouveaux  Me- 
langes Asiatiques." 

6.  "British  Museum  Guide  to  Exhibition  of  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  Pictures,"  p.  12. 

7.  "La   splendeur  des  lettres  semblait  croitre  en 
intensite,  a  mesure  que  1'  Empire  perdait  de  sa  puis- 
sance materielle  et  de  son  etendue"  (P.  St.  Le  Gall). 


154 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY 
A.  D.  1260-1368. 

Kublai  Khan — Expeditions  to  Japan — Kublai's 
magnificence — the  successors  of  Kublai — the  Chi- 
nese revolution — Christian  missions  in  China — the 
Drama — the  Novel. 

KUBLAI  KHAN.  A.  D.  1260-1294.  The  first 
of  the  Yuan  sovereigns  is  known  to  every  reader 
from  the  opening  lines  of  Coleridge's  "Vision  in 
a  Dream." 

"In  Xanadu  did  Kubla  Khan 
A  stately  pleasure  house  decree; 
Where  Alph,  the  sacred  river,  ran 
Through  caverns  measureless  to  man, 
Down  to  a  sunless  sea." 

But  Coleridge  himself  would  never  have  had 
the  chance  to  read  of  Kublai  Khan  in  "Purchas 
his  Pilgrims"  had  not  the  great  Venetian  dictated 
the  passage  with  which  Book  II  of  Marco  Polo 
begins:  '*Now  am  I  come  to  that  part  of  our 
Book  in  which  I  shall  tell  you  the  great  and  won- 
derful magnificence  of  the  Great  Kaan  now  reign- 
155 


156     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

ing,  by  name  Cublay  Kaan;  Kaan  being  a  title 
which  signifyeth  'The  Great  Lord  of  Lords,'  or 
Emperor.  And  of  a  surety  he  hath  good  right 
to  such  a  title,  for  all  men  know  for  a  certain 
truth  that  he  is  the  most  potent  man  as  regards 
forces  and  lands,  and  treasure,  that  existeth  in 
the  world  or  ever  hath  existed  from  the  time  of 
our  First  Father  Adam  until  this  day.  All  this 
I  will  make  clear  to  you  for  truth,  in  this  book 
of  ours,  so  that  every  one  shall  be  fain  to  acknowl- 
edge that  he  is  the  greatest  Lord  that  is  now  in 
the  world,  or  ever  hath  been.  And  now  ye  shall 
hear  how  and  wherefore." 

For  this  "how  and  wherefore"  it  is  always  a 
delight  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  great  traveler's 
story,  which  did  more  than  anything  else  to  make 
Kublai  Khan,  and  even  Cathay  itself,  known  to 
the  Western  world.  A  Carpini  and  a  De  Rubruk 
succeeded  in  interesting  only  a  few,  and  these  for 
the  most  part  ecclesiastics.  Marco  Polo  not  only 
struck  the  imagination  of  his  own  time,  but  made 
the  glamour  of  Cathay  so  glorious  that  genera- 
tions of  travelers  and  navigators  spent  their  lives 
in  endeavoring  to  open  up  new  highways  to  the 
Eastern  wonderland.  From  the  time  of  Prince 
Henry  of  Portugal  onwards  to  the  voyages  of 
Diaz,  Vasco  da  Gama,  Columbus,  Cabot  and  the 
rest,  the  desire  to  recover  the  resplendent  vision 
which  had  once  flashed  before  the  eyes  of  Marco 
Polo  and  his  uncles  was  the  over-mastering  lure. 

Here  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a  meager 


YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY   157 

summary  in  keeping  with  that  sense  of  proportion 
we  have  hitherto  endeavored  to  preserve. 

The  greatness  of  Kublai,  who  was  the  fourth 
son  of  Tuli,  and  so  the  grandson  of  the  great 
Jenghiz,  had  been  long  before  predicted  by  his 
grandfather:  "One  day,"  said  Jenghiz,  pointing 
out  the  boy,  "he  will  sit  in  my  seat  and  bring 
you  good  fortune."  But  the  task  that  fell  to 
him  on  his  accession  in  A.  D.  1260,  so  far  as 
China  was  concerned,  was  one  of  no  mean  pro- 
portions. As  we  have  already  seen,  the  resistance 
of  the  South  against  the  Mongol  arms  was  kept 
up  for  nearly  twenty  years.  The  outline  of  the 
history  of  this  period  is  something  as  follows: 
Appointed  by  his  brother  Mangu  as  Governor  of 
the  Chinese  provinces,  Kublai  had  acquired  such 
popularity  that  in  A.  D.  1257  he  had  been  re- 
called. On  his  brother's  death  he  at  once  hastened 
to  the  capital  and  was  proclaimed  Emperor  in 
A.  D.  1260.  After  overcoming  conspiracy  in  Sa- 
marcand  he  resumed  the  conquest  of  China  in  A.  D. 
1262.  His  great  general,  Bay  an,  crossed  the 
Yang  tsze  Kiang  and  carried  on  a  victorious 
campaign  which  resulted  in  the  capture  of  Hang- 
chou  in  A.  D.  1276.  Two  years  later  the  last  of 
the  Sung  pretenders  died  and  Kublai's  hold  over 
the  whole  of  China  was  established.  The  dynastic 
name  of  Yuan  was  assumed  in  A.  D.  1271.  By 
A.  D.  1279  or  1280  Kublai  could  not  only  call 
himself  Emperor  but  he  was  in  reality  much  more, 
— Master  "from  the  Frozen  Sea  to  the  Straits  of 


158     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

Malacca.  With  the  exception  of  Hindustan, 
Arabia,  and  the  westernmost  parts  of  Asia,  all 
the  Mongol  princes  as  far  as  the  Dnieper  declared 
themselves  his  vassals,  and  brought  regularly 
their  tribute." 

It  is  unfortunate  that  Kublai  in  his  day  of 
power  did  not  have  the  generosity  to  forgive  the 
great  hero  and  scholar,  Wen  Tien  Hsiang,  whose 
death  was  briefly  alluded  to  in  the  last  chapter. 
For  three  years  the  faithful  minister  of  a  fallen 
dynasty  was  kept  in  durance  in  the  hope  that  he 
would  yield  allegiance  to  his  conqueror.  In 
prison  he  wrote  a  pathetic  poem  of  which  some 
lines  run  as  follows: 

"Alas!  the  fates  are  against  me, 
I  am  without  resource. 
Bound  with  fetters, 
Hurried  away  to  the  north, — 
Death  would  be  sweet  indeed." 

That  wished-for  boon  was  for  long  refused. 
At  last  he  was  brought  before  the  Great  Khan 
and,  to  the  final  demand  that  he  should  yield  al- 
legiance, he  replied:  "By  the  grace  of  the  Sung 
Emperor  I  became  a  minister.  I  cannot  serve 
two  masters.  I  only  ask  to  die."  He  was  then 
executed,  making  his  obeisance  towards  the  south, 
as  though  a  Chinese  sovereign  was  still  reigning 
at  Nan-king. 

THE  EXPEDITIONS  TO  JAPAN.     Only  one  coun- 


YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY   159 

try  successfully  resisted  the  arras  of  Kublai  Khan. 
This  was  Japan,  or  as  Marco  Polo  calls  it,  Chi- 
pangu.  From  A.  D.  1268  to  1273  Kublai  Khan 
sent  as  many  as  five  different  embassies  from 
China  to  Japan,  each  accompanied  by  a  Korean 
representative.  In  each  case  he  assumed  the 
right  to  overlordship,  addressing  the  letter :  "The 
Emperor  (Hwang-ti)  of  China  to  the  King 
(Wang)  of  Japan."  The  first  expedition,  con- 
sisting of  15,000  men  in  '300  vessels,  was  sent  in 
A.  D.  1274  and  was  defeated  with  great  loss  near 
the  island  of  Tsushima.  Kublai  sent  other  en- 
voys in  A.  D.  1275  who  were  taken  to  the  capital 
of  Japan  and  executed.  Others  followed  in  A.  D. 
1279  and  these  were  beheaded  where  they  landed. 
Then  came  the  great  Armada  of  A.  D.  1281  which 
is  so  vividly  described  by  the  Venetian  traveler. 

"Cublay,  having  heard  of  the  immense  wealth 
that  was  in  this  island,  formed  a  plan  to  get  pos- 
session of  it.  They  sailed  until  they  reached  the 
island  aforesaid,  and  there  they  landed,  and  oc- 
cupied the  open  country  and  the  villages,  but  did 
not  succeed  in  getting  possession  of  any  city  or 
castle.  And  so  a  disaster  befell  them,  as  I  shall 
now  relate.  You  must  know  that  there  was  much 
ill-will  between  those  two  Barons,  so  that  one 
would  do  nothing  to  help  the  other.  And  it  came 
to  pass  that  there  arose  a  north  wind  which  blew 
with  great  fury,  and  caused  great  damage  along 
the  coasts  of  that  island,  for  its  harbors  were  few. 
It  blew  so  hard  that  the  Great  Kaan's  fleet  could 


160     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

not  stand  against  it.  And  when  the  chiefs  saw 
that  they  came  to  the  conclusion  that  if  the  ships 
remained  where  they  were  the  whole  navy  would 
perish.  So  they  all  got  on  board  and  made  sail  to 
leave  the  country.  But  when  they  had  gone 
about  four  miles  they  came  to  a  small  island  on 
which  they  were  driven  ashore  in  spite  of  all  they 
could  do ;  and  a  large  part  of  the  fleet  was 
wrecked,  and  a  great  multitude  of  the  force  per- 
ished, so  that  there  escaped  only  some  30,000  men 
who  took  refuge  on  this  island." 

These  30,000  were  taken  prisoners  and  put  to 
death  with  the  exception  of  three  men,  who  were 
sent  back  to  China  to  carry  the  news.  Kublai 
Khan  was  unwilling  to  admit  defeat,  but  the  feel- 
ing was  so  strong  in  China  against  a  renewal  of 
the  war  that  he  had  to  submit.  The  truth,  as  Mr. 
Boulger  says,  was — "The  Mongols  were  van- 
quished because  they  undertook  a  task  beyond 
their  power  and  one  with  which  their  military  ex- 
perience did  not  fit  them  to  cope." 

Some  compensation  for  the  repulse  in  Japan 
was  found  in  the  temporary  success  in  Burmah, 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  failure  to 
subdue  the  Eastern  Archipelago  rankled  sorely 
to  the  end  in  the  heart  of  the  Great  Khan. 

KUBLAI'S  MAGNIFICENCE.  Kublai  Khan  built 
himself  a  new  capital,  close  to  Chung-tu,  which  he 
called  Khan-baligh  (known  to  Europeans  as  Cam- 
baluc).  Later  it  received  its  present  name  of 
Peking,  or  Northern  Capital.  Of  the  magnifi- 


< 

— 

n 


YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY   161 

cence  and  munificence  of  the  Great  Khan  there 
was  no  end.  Time  would  fail  to  tell  of  his  mani- 
fold interest  in  the  arts  and  in  literature,  of  the 
attempt  to  introduce  the  Mongol  alphabet,  con- 
structed by  a  Tibetan  priest,  of  his  great  work 
in  the  deepening  and  extending  of  the  Grand 
Canal,  of  his  lavish  entertainment  of  the  foreign 
envoys  and  missionaries,  and  of  his  stupendous 
hunting  expeditions.  His  patronage  of  the  vari- 
ous religious  systems  brought  to  his  notice  was 
doubtless  dictated  by  policy  rather  than  by  con- 
viction. He  hoped,  as  he  expressed  it,  that  if  he 
leaned  towards  them  all,  the  one  which  was  great- 
est would  be  of  some  advantage  to  him  hereafter. 
Yet,  in  spite  of  all  his  Solomonic  glory,  in  the 
reign  of  Kublai  Khan,  even  in  his  own  day,  we  dis- 
cern the  seeds  of  eventual  failure.  The  lavish 
manufacture  and  use  of  paper  money,  which  had 
been  first  introduced  and  used  by  the  Mongols  in 
A.  D.  1236,  did  perhaps  more  than  anything  else 
to  breed  dissatisfaction  in  the  present  and  make 
inevitable  catastrophe  for  the  future.  Moreover, 
a  "barbarian"  the  Great  Khan  remained  to  the 
last  in  the  estimation  of  the  literati  of  China. 
They  had  some  reason,  for  all  Chinese  in  A.  D. 
1286  were  forbidden  to  bear  arms,  and  three  years 
later  a  great  holocaust  was  made  of  all  their  bows 
and  arrows.  The  attempted  introduction  of  the 
Mongol  written  character  was  also  strongly  re- 
sented. So  when  Kublai  died,  a  somewhat  mo- 
rose and  tyrannical  old  man,  in  A.  D.  1294,  he  had 


162     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

not  succeeded  in  winning  the  confidence  of  the  na- 
tion which  he  had  subdued.  His  last  years  were 
clouded  by  the  war  against  his  cousin  Kaidu,  who, 
after  winning  over  the  general,  Nayan,  rose  in  re- 
bellion. Nayan  was  defeated  and  beaten  to 
death,  after  the  Mongol  fashion,  in  a  sack  to 
avoid  the  effusion  of  blood.  The  war,  however, 
was  still  proceeding  when  Kublai's  reign  of 
thirty-five  years  came  to  an  end.  Kaidu  contin- 
ued the  contest  under  the  succeeding  reign  but 
died  in  A.  D.  1301. 

THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  KUBLAI.  A  few  words  are 
sufficient  in  which  to  sum  up  the  reigns  of  the 
eight  Mongol  Emperors  who  succeeded  Kublai 
Khan.  Timur,  his  grandson,  was  the  first  and 
reigned  till  A.  D.  1307,  under  the  name  of  Yuan- 
ching.  He,  dying  without  an  heir,  was  followed 
by  a  Mongol  prince,  Wu-tsung,  and  Wu-tsung,  in 
A.  D.  1312  by  Jen-tsung.  Jen-tsung  honored  the 
name  of  Confucius  and  did  his  best  to  bridge  over 
the  gulf  between  Mongol  and  Chinese.  He  ended 
a  prosperous  reign  in  A.  D.  1320.  Then  followed 
weak  and  incapable  rulers  who  gradually  exposed 
to  Chinese  eyes  the  weakness  of  their  conquerors. 
The  last  of  these  was  Shun-ti,  who  in  A.  D.  1368 
turned  his  back  upon  the  rebels  led  by  the  ex- 
Buddhist  priest,  Chu  Yuan  Chang,  and  completed 
the  humiliation  of  the  descendants  of  Jenghiz 
Khan. 

THE  REVOLUTION.  The  country  was  evidently 
ripe  for  revolt,  for  its  leader,  who  had  been  a 


YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY   163 

priest  of  subordinate  rank  in  a  Buddhist  monas- 
tery, seems  to  have  had  little  conception  of  the 
greatness  of  the  movement  he  was  heading.  A 
priest  turned  bandit  and  so,  rising  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  numerous  guerrilla  bands  that  were 
organized  to  worry  the  Mongol  government,  "the 
Beggar  King"  was  made  great  by  his  opportunity. 
The  capture  of  the  Southern  Capital,  Nanking, 
gave  the  rebels  a  vantage  point  from  which  to 
continue  the  war,  and  by  A.  D.  1368  the  expul- 
sion of  the  Mongols  was  so  far  a  fact  that  Chang, 
much  to  his  own  astonishment,  found  himself  Em- 
peror of  China  and  founder  of  a  dynasty.  Years 
before  he  had  had  a  wonderful  dream  of  a  pil- 
grimage to  the  holy  mountain  of  Hwa.  Now  his 
dream  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter  and  some  time 
after  his  accession  to  the  throne  he  visited  the 
mountain  and  found  all  exactly  as  he  had  dreamed. 
The  dream,  a  kind  of  oriental  "Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress," is  depicted  in  a  tablet  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain.2 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  IN  CHINA.  The  period  of 
the  Yuan  dynasty  was  favorable  to  intercourse 
with  Europeans.  Remusat  says  of  this  time: 
"Many  monks,  Italians,  French,  Flemings,  were 
charged  with  diplomatic  missions  to  the  Grand 
Khan.  Mongols  of  distinction  came  to  Rome, 
Barcelona,  Valencia,  Lyons,  Paris,  London, 
Northampton,  and  a  Franciscan  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Naples  was  Archbishop  of  Peking."  This  last 
was  the  famous  John  de  Monte  Corvino,  sent  in 


164<     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

A.  D.  1292  by  Pope  Nicholas  IV.  He  had  fol- 
lowed the  earlier  Franciscan  missionaries,  Carpini 
and  De  Rubruk,  and  had  been  appointed  Arch- 
bishop with  four  Suffragans  by  Pope  Clement  V. 
His  labors  in  China  extended  over  forty-two 
years,  during  which  time  he  made  30,000  con- 
verts, translated  the  New  Testament  and  the 
Psalms  into  Tatar,  and  caused  many  pictures  of 
religious  subjects  to  be  painted  for  the  churches. 
When  he  died,  in  A.  D.  1328,  he  was  followed  to 
the  grave  by  a  vast  multitude  of  Christians  and 
pagans  alike.  "All  the  inhabitants  of  Cambaluc, 
without  distinction,  mourned  for  the  man  of  God." 
It  seems  probable  that  many  of  the  old  Nestorian 
missions  coalesced  with  those  founded  at  this  time 
and  that  the  Christian  population  was  quite  con- 
siderable. Much  of  the  work,  however,  stopped 
with  the  fall  of  the  dynasty,  and  it  seems  probable 
that  many  of  the  Christians  followed  the  Mon- 
gol retreat  to  their  own  land.  Altogether  the 
harvest  was  less  than  had  been  expected  in  Eu- 
rope and  the  Mongol  did  not  become,  as  had  been 
hoped,  the  champion  of  Christendom  against  the 
still  growing  power  of  Islam. 

THE  DRAMA.  The  drama  was  not,  apparently, 
native  to  China  and  was  probably  introduced 
from  Central  Asia.  But  the  T'ang  Emperor, 
Huan  Tsung,  is  said,  as  early  as  A.  D.  713,  to 
have  gathered  around  him  a  numerous  company 
of  male  and  female  actors  and  singers  whom  he 
called  "The  Young  Folks  of  the  Pear  Garden,"  a 


YUAN  OR  MONGOL  DYNASTY   165 

title  still  borne  by  Chinese  actors.  About  A.  D. 
1000  Yen  She  is  spoken  of  as  the  inventor  of 
marionette  plays,  and  in  the  following  century 
plays  are  more  than  once  mentioned.  It  is,  how- 
ever, due  specially  to  the  Mongol  dynasty  that 
the  Drama  (as  also  the  Novel)  appears  as  a 
distinct  feature  of  Chinese  literature.  "The 
Hundred  Plays  of  the  Yuan  Dynasty"  include 
"The  Orphan  of  Chou"  which  Voltaire  used,  from 
the  translation  of  Pere  Premare,  as  the  material 
for  a  tragedy,  and  "The  Sorrows  of  Han,"  an 
historical  drama  of  genuine  merit  and  interest. 
A  large  proportion  of  these  plays  are  anonymous, 
and  it  is  evident  that  the  Drama  was  not  re- 
garded, strictly  speaking,  as  literature.  Pro- 
fessor Giles  says  the  play  which  will  best  repay 
the  reading  is  "The  Story  of  the  Western  Pa- 
vilion," a  drama  of  passion  and  intrigue  in  six- 
teen scenes.3 

THE  NOVEL.  This  also  is  of  exotic  origin,  in- 
troduced with  the  Mongols  themselves  from  Cen- 
tral Asia.  From  "The  Story  of  the  Three  King- 
doms," a  novel  of  this  time,  comes  the  following 
quotation,  which  seems  to  show  a  knowledge  of 
the  use  of  anaesthetics  at  a  much  earlier  period 
than  has  generally  been  supposed: 

"Dr.  Hua  is  a  mighty  skillful  physician,  and 
such  a  one  as  is  not  often  to  be  found.  His  ad- 
ministration of  drugs,  and  his  use  of  acupuncture 
and  counter  irritants  are  always  followed  by  the 
speedy  recovery  of  the  patient.  If  the  sick  man 


166     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

is  suffering  from  some  internal  complaint  and 
medicines  produce  no  satisfactory  result,  then  Dr. 
Hua  will  administer  a  dose  of  hashish,  under  the 
influence  of  which  the  patient  becomes  as  if  in- 
toxicated with  wine.  He  now  takes  a  sharp  knife 
and  opens  the  abdomen,  proceeding  to  wash  the 
patient's  viscera  with  medicinal  liquids,  but  with- 
out causing  him  the  slightest  pain.  The  washing 
finished,  he  sews  up  the  wound  with  medicated 
thread,  and  puts  over  it  a  plaster,  and  by  the 
end  of  a  month  or  twenty  days  the  place  has 
healed  up."  4 

"THE  RECORD  OF  TRAVELS  IN  THE  WEST"  is 
another  interesting  novel  of  the  time,  founded  upon 
the  pilgrimage,  already  mentioned,  of  the  great 
Buddhist  monk,  Hiouen  Tsang. 


NOTES 

1.  Yule's  "Marco  Polo/'  II  p.  255.     A  Japanese 
account    (somewhat   imaginative)    of   the   Expedition 
is   given  in  the   "Taiheiki"   of  Kojima    (died  A.   D. 
1374).     It   is    quoted   in  Aston's   "Japanese   Litera- 
ture," pp.  178-183. 

2.  "Through  Hidden  Shensi,"  Francis  Nichols. 

3.  Some    interesting   translations   of   the   Chinese 
drama    (e.g.    "Borrowing   Boots")    are   given   in   the 
"Gleanings  of  Fifty  Years  in  China/'  by  Archibald 
Little. 

4.  Giles,  "History  of  Chinese  Literature/'  p.  278. 


167 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  MING  DYNASTY 

A.  D.  1368-1644. 

Hung-wu  and  his  successors — arrival  of  the 
Portuguese — Japanese  invasions — the  Jesuits — 
the  Mancliu  invasion — the  last  of  the  Mings. 

HUNG-WU.  A.  D.  1368-1398.  Chu  Yuan 
Chang,  having  been  once  persuaded  to  accept 
the  Yellow  Robe,  made  no  secret  of  his  desire  and 
determination  to  bring  back  the  good  old  days 
of  Yao  and  Shun.  "The  Beggar  King,"  as  he 
is  sometimes  called,  had  been  left  an  orphan  at 
an  early  age,  and,  through  the  advice  given  in  a 
vision  by  his  dead  parents,  had  entered  a  Buddhist 
monastery.  From  this  he  emerged,  as  we  have 
seen,  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  patriots  who,  under 
the  leadership  of  Kwoh  Tsze  I,  were  beginning 
to  make  headway  against  the  Mongol  domina- 
tion. The  leader  died  soon  after  and  committed 
the  command  of  the  insurrection  to  the  ex-monk, 
whose  success  was  rapid  and  complete.  The  new 
dynasty  was  proclaimed  under  the  name  of  Ming, 
or  "Bright,"  and  the  new  sovereign  chose  for 
himself,  not  without  right,  the  name  of  Hung-wu, 
or  "Great  Warrior."  Justifying  his  throne 

name,    he    followed    the    defeated    Mongols    into 
168 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  169 

Tatary,  reconquered  the  Liao-tung  peninsula,  and 
established  himself  in  Nan-king,  the  capital  of 
the  South.  The  war  continued  for  some  time 
under  the  conduct  of  his  generals,  among  whom 
Suta  especially  deserves  to  be  named.  One  in- 
cident in  the  war,  moreover,  brings  to  light  the 
name  of  a  real  hero,  Yu-kwang,  who  has  right  to 
his  meed  of  praise.  This  general,  having  been 
captured  by  the  Mongols,  was  led  around  the 
walls  of  Lan  chi  fu  in  order  that  he  might  urge 
submission.  Instead,  he  cried  aloud,  "Be  of  good 
courage ;  Suta  is  on  his  way  to  help  you."  Then 
he  was  cut  in  pieces  by  his  captors  and  died,  con- 
scious of  having  saved  the  city  from  surrender. 
Meanwhile  Hung-wu  received  at  Nan-king  en- 
voys from  many  lands  with  presents  and  many 
flattering  letters.  Among  the  presents  was  a  lion, 
the  first,  it  is  said,  that  had  been  seen  in  China. 
The  last  Mongol  claimant  to  the  throne  of  China 
died  at  Karakorum  in  A.  D.  1370  and,  though 
invasions  were  not  infrequent  for  many  years,  all 
hope  of  restoring  the  old  dominion  was  aban- 
doned. Hung-wu  set  himself  vigorously  to  work 
to  restore  everything  that  was  Chinese.  He  com- 
pelled the  use  of  the  Chinese  dress,  performed 
personally  the  annual  ceremonial  plowing,  and 
caused  the  Empress  to  offer  the  annual  sacrifice 
to  the  spirit  of  the  mulberry  trees.  He  also  re- 
established the  public  schools  and  libraries  and 
encouraged  the  arts  and  industries.  One  of  the 
most  important  of  his  achievements  was  the  com- 


170     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

pilation  of  the  Law  Code,  known  as  the  Pandects 
of  Yung-lu,  "which  not  merely  simplified  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  law,  but  also  gave  the  people 
some  idea  of  the  laws  under  which  they  lived." 
In  all  this  he  succeeded  in  preserving  his  early 
simplicity  and  modesty,  and  several  stories  are 
told  of  rebukes  administered  to  would-be  flatterers 
which  are  as  deserving  of  remembrance  as  the  an- 
swer of  Canute  to  his  courtiers  at  the  sea-side. 
On  one  occasion  some  of  the  grandees  brought  him 
some  stalks  of  wheat  which  showed  an  extraordi- 
nary yield.  This  they  presented  as  a  proof  of 
the  wonderful  virtue  of  Hung-wu's  rule.  The 
Emperor  responded  that  he  did  verily  desire  to 
see  the  time  when  all  his  subjects  would  enjoy 
peace  and  prosperity,  but  that,  nevertheless,  he 
was  not  vain  enough  to  suppose  that  Heaven  had 
done  anything  so  unusual  on  his  own  account. 
On  another  occasion  some  Taoist  priests  came 
to  him  bringing  a  book  which  they  declared  con- 
tained the  recipe  for  the  famous  "Water  of 
Immortality."  The  Emperor  inquired  whether 
the  book  and  its  secret  availed  for  everybody 
or  for  himself  alone.  "It  is  only  for  your 
Majesty's  own  use,"  they  replied.  "That  be- 
ing so,"  answered  Hung-wu,  "it  is  of  no  use  to 
me,  seeing  that  I  will  not  profit  by  anything  in 
which  my  people  may  not  participate."  In  line 
with  this  disinterestedness  is  the  story  of  the 
Emperor's  having  sent  fur  coats  to  his  soldiers 
for  their  winter  campaign,  his  instructions  to  of- 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  171 

ficials  proceeding  to  their  posts  to  take  particu- 
lar care  of  the  aged  and  the  orphan,  and  the 
choice  of  his  grandson  as  the  most  fitting  suc- 
cessor rather  than  any  of  his  sons.  Naturally, 
from  his  old  association  with  the  bonzes,  he 
favored  Buddhism,  but  he  seems  also  to  have  been 
fair  to  other  creeds.  The  thirty  years'  reign 
which  came  to  an  end  in  A.  D.  1398  was  on  the 
whole  a  very  prosperous  one  and  presents  a  strik- 
ing contrast  to  the  contemporary  career  of  the 
great  conqueror,  Timur,  or  Tamerlane. 

HUNG-WU'S  SUCCESSORS.  The  succession  de- 
volved, as  we  have  seen,  upon  the  grandson  of 
Hung-wu,  Kien-wen,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  sons. 
Kien-wen,  A.  D.  1398-1403,  was  a  youth  of  six- 
teen and  his  inexperience  soon  tempted  a  revolt 
which  was  headed  by  one  of  his  uncles,  Hung- 
wu's  fourth  son,  known  as  the  Prince  of  Yen. 
The  other  uncles  were  degraded  and  one  of  them 
committed  suicide,  but  the  revolt,  nevertheless, 
continued  to  spread,  and  soon  attained  alarming 
proportions.  One  of  the  royal  generals  was  most 
fertile  in  resources  for  defending  his  city,  drop- 
ping iron  harrows  on  the  heads  of  the  assailants 
and  hanging  out  numerous  pictures  of  Hung-wu 
from  the  battlements  in  the  belief  that  the  Prince 
of  Yen  would  respect  his  father's  portrait.  But 
eventually  Nanking  was  captured,  the  victor  es- 
tablished himself  on  the  throne  as  Yung-lo  (A.  D. 
1403-1425),  and  Kien-wen,  disguised  as  a  monk, 
fled  to  Yunnan  where  he  lived  for  forty  years 


172     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

much  more  happily  than  he  had  done  as  Emperor. 
His  identity  was  revealed  at  last  through  the  pub- 
lication of  a  poem  and  he  was  removed  to  Peking 
where  he  died.  The  new  ruler,  in  spite  of  some 
outbursts  of  atrocious  cruelty  at  the  beginning  of 
his  reign,  proved  a  capable  sovereign.  He  made 
Peking  once  again  the  capital,  carried  his  victo- 
rious arms  far  into  the  deserts  of  Tatary,  and 
added  to  his  dominions  Cochin  China  and  Tong- 
king.  Probably  by  way  of  reaction  against  the 
extreme  devotion  of  his  predecessors,  he  renewed 
the  proscription  of  Buddhism  and  sent  many  hun- 
dreds of  priests  back  to  their  homes.  He  also 
burned  the  books  of  the  Taoists  and  forbade  any 
further  search  for  the  Elixir  Vita.  Notwith- 
standing his  destruction  of  the  books  he  was  a 
patron  of  literature  and  produced  the  "most  gi- 
gantic encyclopedia"  ever  known,  a  work  which 
took  over  2,000  scholars  for  its  compilation,  and 
ran  probably  to  500,000  pages.  It  was  never 
printed,  but  two  extra  copies  were  made.  Of  the 
three  transcripts  of  this  great  work,  two  perished 
at  the  fall  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  and  the  third 
at  the  burning  of  the  Hanlin  College  on  June 
23rd,  1900,  during  the  Boxer  Revolt.  Like 
Hung-wu,  Yung-lo  received  envoys  and  tribute 
from  afar,  including  a  rhinoceros  from  Bengal. 
But  he  can  hardly  have  appreciated  as  much  as 
most  the  luxury  and  wealth  which  his  elevation 
to  the  throne  brought  within  his  reach,  if  the 
story  be  true  that  he  discouraged  the  opening  of 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  173 

newly  discovered  mines  of  precious  stones  in  Shan- 
si.  "For,"  said  he,  "such  things  as  these  can 
neither  nourish  the  people  in  time  of  famine,  nor 
preserve  them  from  the  rigors  of  cold." 

Yung-lo  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Hung-hi 
(A.  D.  1425-1426),  who,  however,  only  reigned  a 
few  months.  He  died,  it  is  said,  as  the  result 
of  superstitious  terror  when  he  learned  that  the 
stars  were  unfavorable.  His  short  reign  is  only 
dignified  by  his  recorded  response  to  the  ministers 
when  a  famine  was  being  severely  felt.  They  ad- 
vised him  that  it  was  impossible  to  act  without 
having  recourse  to  the  high  tribunals.  "No  delib- 
erations ;  and  no  delays !"  he  cried.  "When  the 
people  are  dying  of  hunger  one  must  relieve  them 
as  promptly  as  if  it  were  a  case  of  putting  out  a 
fire  or  stopping  a  flood."  Suan-ti,  A.  D.  1426- 
1436,  is  remarkable  for  nothing  but  for  the  Ha- 
roun-al-raschid-like  habit  of  wandering  disguised 
among  the  people  to  learn  their  condition,  and  for 
the  loss  of  Cochin  China  which,  in  the  year  1428, 
passed  from  the  rank  of  a  province  to  the  cate- 
gory of  tribute-bearing  countries. 

CHENG-TUNG,  A.  D.  1436-1465,  reigned  with  an 
interruption  of  seven  years,  during  which  time  he 
was  a  prisoner  among  the  Tatars.  A  descendant 
of  the  old  Yuan  family  captured  and  held  him 
in  spite  of  all  offers  of  ransom.  During  his  ab- 
sence the  throne  was  occupied  by  a  brother,  King- 
ti,  A.  D.  1450-1457. 

CHENG-HWA,  A.  D.  1465-1488,  and  Hung-chi, 


174     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

A.  D.  1488-1506,  reigned  with  comparative  quiet, 
devoted  to  the  bonzes  and  even  to  the  supersti- 
tions of  the  Taoists.  Much  public  work  was  at- 
tempted at  this  time.  Half  a  million  men  were 
employed  in  working  certain  gold  mines  in  Central 
China,  although  the  yield  must  have  been  disap- 
pointing if  the  total  is  rightly  given  as  thirty 
ounces.  The  Great  Wall  was  repaired  and  a 
canal  dug  from  Peking  to  the  Pei-ho  to  enable 
the  junks  to  pass  from  the  Yang-tsze-kiang  to  the 
capital.  Unfortunately,  however,  the  realm  was 
more  than  once  desolated  by  famine,  and  pesti- 
lence and  cannibalism  is  said  to  have  become  rife 
in  the  west. 

ARRIVAL,  or  THE  PORTUGUESE.  The  reign  of 
Cheng-te,  A.  D.  1506-1522,  is  notable  on  account 
of  the  first  arrival  of  Europeans  by  sea  to  Can- 
ton. "During  the  reign  of  Ching-tih,"  says  a 
Chinese  work  quoted  by  Dr.  S.  Wells  Williams,1 
"foreigners  from  the  West,  called  Fah-lan-ki 
(Franks),  who  said  that  they  had  tribute,  ab- 
ruptly entered  the  Bogue,  and,  by  their  tremen- 
dously loud  guns,  shook  the  place  far  and  near. 
This  was  reported  at  Court  and  an  order  returned 
to  drive  them  away  immediately  and  stop  their 
trade.  At  about  this  time,  also,  the  Hollanders, 
who  in  ancient  times  inhabited  a  wild  territory 
and  had  no  intercourse  with  China,  came  to  Macao 
in  two  or  three  large  ships.  Their  clothes  and 
their  hair  were  red ;  their  bodies  tall ;  they  had 
blue  eyes  sunk  deep  in  their  heads.  Their  feet 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  175 

were  one  cubit  and  two-tenths  long;  and  they 
frightened  the  people  by  their  strange  appear- 
ance." 

Raphael  Perestrello  was  the  first  Portuguese  to 
arrive,  sailing  from  Malacca  in  A.  D.  1516.  The 
following  year  came  Ferdinand  d'Andrade  with  a 
squadron  to  Canton  and  was  well  received.  The 
trouble  came  with  the  arrival  of  his  brother  Simon 
and  the  commission  of  many  high-handed  acts  of 
outrage.  Dr.  Andrade  was  thereupon  imprisoned 
and  executed  by  the  Emperor's  orders  in  A.  D. 
1523.  Factories  and  settlements,  however,  were 
established  at  Canton,  Ning-po,  and  Macao,  which 
soon  became  the  headquarters  of  the  Portuguese 
trade  with  China. 

JAPANESE  INVASIONS.  Cheng-te  was  succeeded 
by  Kia-tsing,  A.  D.  1522-1567,  whose  reign  was 
disturbed  not  only  by  invasions  from  the  north 
on  the  part  of  the  Tatars,  but  also  from  a  new 
quarter,  viz:  Japan.  The  raids  by  the  Japan- 
ese pirates  in  this  reign  began  to  be  quite  serious. 
Hitherto  the  inhabitants  of  the  Eastern  Archi- 
pelago, when  they  came  at  all,  came  as  vassals ; 
now,  under  the  leadership  of  the  great  warriors  of 
the  Momoyama  period,  they  not  only  considered 
themselves  independent,  but  pined  for  new  worlds 
to  conquer.  For  three  successive  years,  A.  D. 
1555,  1556  and  1557,  they  made  descents  upon 
the  coast  of  Cheh-kiang  with  varying  degrees  of 
success.  Twenty-five  years  later,  in  the  time  of 
the  famous  Hideyoshi,  a  much  more  deliberate 


176     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

and  formidable  attack  was  made.  The  Taiko- 
sama  had  long  meditated  the  conquest  of  Korea, 
to  which  Japan  asserted  claims  of  long  standing, 
and  he  was  prepared  to  extend  the  reach  of  his 
ambition  to  China.  In  a  letter  written  to  the 
ruler  of  Korea  "as  a  father  to  a  son,"  Hideyoshi 
said:  "I  will  assemble  a  mighty  host  and,  in- 
vading the  country  of  the  great  Ming,  I  will  fill 
with  the  hoar  frost  from  my  sword  the  whole  sky 
of  the  four  hundred  provinces.  Should  I  carry 
out  this  purpose,  I  hope  that  Korea  will  be  my 
vanguard.  Let  her  not  fail  to  do  so,  for  my 
friendship  with  your  honorable  country  depends 
solely  on  your  conduct  when  I  lead  my  army 
against  China."  The  Koreans,  with  a  more  ade- 
quate knowledge  of  the  resources  of  the  Middle 
Kingdom,  replied  that  for  Hideyoshi  to  contem- 
plate the  invasion  of  China  was  like  "measuring 
the  ocean  in  a  cockle  shell,  or  a  bee  trying  to  sting 
a  tortoise  through  its  shell."  Hideyoshi,  how- 
ever, was  in  no  wise  dismayed.  "I  shall  do  it," 
he  said,  "as  easily  as  a  man  rolls  up  a  piece  of 
matting  and  carries  it  under  his  arm."  Two 
armies,  one  of  them  commanded  by  a  famous 
Christian  general,  Konishi  Yushinaga,  were  dis- 
patched and  ravaged  Korea  with  fire  and  sword. 
Appeals  to  China  led  to  the  sending  of  a  small 
force  which  was  easily  defeated  by  the  Japanese 
at  Ping-shang.  Some  futile  negotiations  for 
peace,  in  which  the  Japanese  were  outwitted  by 
the  Chinese  diplomatists,  followed,  and  the  war 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  177 

was  renewed  in  A.  D.  1597.  A  great  battle  was 
fought  in  A.  D.  1598  in  which  38,700  Chinese  and 
Koreans  are  said  to  have  been  slain.  The  ears 
and  noses  were  pickled  in  tubs  and  sent  back  to 
Kyoto,  where  they  were  buried  in  a  mound  near 
the  great  image  of  the  Buddha.  The  gruesome 
monument  erected  on  the  spot,  together  with  the 
mimizuka,  or  ear  mound,  as  it  is  termed,  remain 
to  the  present  day  and  represent  practically  all 
that  Hideyoshi  got  out  of  his  campaigns.  Sense 
of  failure  weighed  upon  the  great  soldier  at  the 
last.  He  died  with  the  words  upon  his  lips, 
"Don't  let  my  soldiers  become  ghosts  in  Korea." 

Meanwhile  the  throne  of  China  had  passed  from 
Kia-tsing  to  Lung-king  in  A.  D.  1567  and  from 
Lung-king  to  Wen-li  in  A.  D.  1573.  While  the 
latter  was  trying  to  deal  in  a  feeble  way  with  the 
Japanese  menace  in  Korea,  he  was  also  endeavor- 
ing to  placate  the  Tatar  generals  in  the  North 
with  the  gift  of  lands  and  honors. 

THE  JESUITS.  Probably  the  most  important 
event  in  the  reign  of  Wen-li  was  the  arrival  of  the 
famous  Jesuit,  Matteo  Ricci.  For  some  years  the 
disciples  of  Loyola  had  cast  longing  eyes  upon 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  Francis  Xavier,  foiled  in 
his  attempts  to  set  foot  in  the  heart  of  the  coun- 
try, succumbed  to  fever  on  the  little  island  of 
Sancian  on  Dec.  2,  A.  D.  1552.  Thirty  years 
later,  Valignani  mournfully  exclaimed,  "O  mighty 
fortress,  when  shall  these  impenetrable  brazen 
gates  of  thine  be  broken  open?"  It  was  reserved 


178     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

for  Ricci  in  A.  D.  1582  to  learn  the  way  to  re- 
main in  China  without  offending  too  much  the 
prejudices  of  the  Chinese.  With  Michael  Rug- 
giero,  who  had  arrived  at  Macao  in  A.  D.  1580, 
Ricci  obtained  leave  to  stay  at  Shau-king,  and, 
as  Dr.  Wells  Williams  tells  us,  "in  their  inter- 
course with  the  people  of  all  classes  they  won 
good  opinions  by  their  courtesy,  presents  and 
scientific  attainments."  At  first  the  Jesuits 
dressed  as  Buddhist  priests ;  later  they  wore  the 
garb  of  literati;  and,  when  in  A.  D.  1601,  they 
succeeded  for  the  first  time  in  reaching  Peking, 
their  knowledge  of  astronomy  and  mathematics 
made  possible  a  stay  which  would  have  been  cut 
short  had  they  appeared  as  evangelists  alone. 
Nevertheless,  their  converts  were  not  few  and  some 
of  them,  like  Paul  Su  and  his  daughter,  who  was 
baptized  as  Candida,  were  influential  enough  to 
protect  their  teachers  from  molestation.  Ricci 
died  in  1610. 

THE  MANCHU  INVASION.  The  last  years  of 
Wen-li  were  under  the  shadow  of  impending  in- 
vasion from  the  north.  The  famous  Manchu 
chief,  Nurhachu,  who  was  born  in  A.  D.  1559  near 
the  source  of  the  Yalu,  in  Korea,  first  appeared 
as  a  conqueror  in  the  Liao-tung  peninsula  in  A.  D. 
1582.  Three  years  later  all  the  confederation  of 
Tatar  chiefs  recognized  him  as  their  king  and  we 
find  him  preparing  for  the  conquest  of  China. 
In  A.  D.  1617  he  published  his  memorable  "Seven 
Hates  of  the  Tatars  against  the  Chinese,"  con- 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  179 

eluding  with  the  words,  "For  all  these  reasons  I 
hate  you  with  an  intense  hatred  and  now  make  war 
upon  you."  This  manifesto  Tien-ming,  or  Nur- 
hachu,  burned  in  the  presence  of  the  army  in  order 
that,  thus  spiritualized,  it  might  pass  into  the 
presence  of  the  dead  as  a  witness  against  the 
Mings.  Having  thus  put  in  the  strongest  light 
the  various  wrongs  from  which  the  Manchus  as- 
serted themselves  to  be  suffering,  the  chief  ad- 
vanced into  the  border  land,  vowing  that  he  would 
celebrate  his  father's  funeral  with  the  slaughter 
of  two  hundred  thousand  Chinese.  He  seems 
to  have  fulfilled  his  vow  only  too  well,  and  in  A.  D. 
1625  fixed  his  capital  at  Mukden.  Two  years  later 
he  died  without  having  led  his  army  into  China 
proper.  His  son  carried  on  the  work  which  had 
been  begun,  broke  through  the  Great  Wall  in 
three  places,  ravaged  the  province  of  Chih-li,  and 
advanced  far  enough  to  show  that  Peking  was  at 
his  mercy. 

THE  LAST  OF  THE  MINGS.  Wen-li  in  the  mean- 
time had  died,  A.  D.  1620,  of  a  broken  heart,  and 
the  Ming  throne  fell  with  all  its  burdens  upon 
T'sung-cheng.  The  Manchu  invasion  was  not  the 
only  menace  of  the  situation.  British  commerce 
made  a  characteristic  appearance  at  Canton  in 
A.  D.  1635.  The  vessels  under  Captain  Weddell 
proceeded  to  the  Bogue  forts  and,  being  fired  upon 
at  the  instigation  of  the  Portuguese, — "Herewith 
the  whole  fleet  being  instantly  incensed,  did  on 
the  sudden  display  their  bloody  ensigns;  and 


180     OUTLINE  HISTORY  OF  CHINA 

weighing  their  anchors  fell  up  with  the  flood  and 
berthed  themselves  before  the  castle,  from  whence 
came  many  shot,  yet  not  any  that  touched  so 
much  as  hull  or  rope;  whereupon  not  being  able 
to  endure  their  bravadoes  any  longer,  each  ship 
began  to  play  furiously  upon  them  with  their 
broadsides."  2 

More  serious  was  the  insurrection  that  broke 
out  under  Li-tsze-cheng  and  Shang-ko-hi.  The 
whole  country,  indeed,  as  an  annalist  testifies, 
hummed  with  the  spirit  of  revolt,  like  a  hive  of 
bees  in  swarming  time,  but  Li-tsze-cheng  repre- 
sented a  coalition  of  rebel  leaders  known  as  the 
Eight  Kings.  Li  was  a  village  headman  who  had 
turned  brigand,  associated  himself  with  a  gang  of 
desperadoes  (a  gang  which  included  a  famous  fe- 
male bandit),  and  had  at  length  risen  to  the  com- 
mand of  a  powerful  army.  The  Mings  were  re- 
duced to  the  direst  extremities.  Kai-feng-fu  was 
straitly  besieged  by  Li,  and  human  flesh  was  sold 
in  the  shambles  for  food.  The  Imperialist  gen- 
eral endeavored  to  retaliate  by  cutting  the  dikes 
and  flooding  the  country.  "China's  Sorrow,"  the 
Hwang-ho,  was  nothing  loath  to  do  its  deadly 
work,  but  the  inundation  did  nothing  in  return  to 
help  the  dynasty  in  its  extremity.  Peking  was  soon 
invested  and  the  end  came  not  long  after.  The 
Emperor,  with  a  touch  of  dignity  about  his  death 
such  as  he  had  never  shown  during  his  life,  com- 
mitted suicide.  He  called  around  him  the  mem- 
bers of  his  family,  and  toasted  them  in  the  wine 


THE  MING  DYNASTY  181 

of  the  country.  Then  he  bade  his  wife  slay  her- 
self in  her  own  apartment,  which  she  did,  stran- 
gling herself  with  a  silken  cord.  Forty  concu- 
bines followed  the  Queen's  example,  and  the  Em- 
peror himself  attempted  to  slay  with  his  sword 
his  fifteen  year  old  daughter.3  Then  he  ordered 
his  other  children  to  be  slain  to  save  their  honor, 
and  retired  to  a  favorite  eminence  in  the  palace 
grounds  where  he  hanged  himself.  Ere  he  died 
he  wrote  on  the  lapel  of  his  robe  his  last  edict, 
ending  with  the  words,  "Hack  my  body  to  pieces 
if  you  will,  but  spare  my  people."  A  eunuch  who 
had  remained  faithful  to  the  last  stripped  the 
body  of  the  royal  robes  that  it  might  not  be  rec- 
ognized, and  gave  it  the  best  burial  that  was 
possible  under  the  circumstances. 

The  triumph  of  the  rebels  was  frustrated  by 
the  Ming  general,  Wu-san-kwei,  who  at  once 
opened  up  negotiations  with  the  Manchus,  invit- 
ing them  to  save  the  country  from  the  revolting 
faction  and  re-establish  order.  Li  advanced 
against  him,  but  was  badly  beaten  and  forced  to 
retreat  upon  Peking.  Here  he  placed  upon  the 
ramparts  the  heads  of  the  Ming  Emperor's  mur- 
dered sons,  and  above  the  principal  gate  the 
bloody  head  of  the  Chinese  general's  father. 
With  a  great  cry»  a  cry  which  was  at  once  taken 
up  by  all  the  army,  Wu-san-kwei  burst  into  the 
city.  Li  fled,  deserted  by  most  of  his  men,  and 
died  miserably  soon  after  at  the  hands  of  local 
militia  in  the  province  of  Hu-peh.  The  invited 


Manchus,  nothing  reluctant,  now  entered  China 
to  lay  hands  upon  the  spoil,  and  Tien-tsung  dying 
in  1644  his  son  Shun-chi  was  proclaimed  in  the 
same  year  the  first  Manchu  Emperor  of  China. 
The  words  of  the  proclamation  are  worth  quot- 
ing: 

"I,  Son  of  Heaven,  of  the  Dynasty  Ta  Tsing, 
respectfully  announce  to  Your  Majesties  the 
Heaven  and  the  Earth,  that  which  follows:  My 
grandfather  having  received  the  mandate  of 
Heaven,  founded  in  the  East  a  kingdom  which  be- 
came mighty.  I,  the  Servant  of  Heaven,  although 
unworthy,  have  inherited  his  dominions.  The 
Mings  having  become  corrupt,  rebels  arose  every- 
where and  oppressed  the  people.  China  being 
without  government,  I,  faithful  to  the  beneficent 
traditions  of  my  family,  have  destroyed  its  op- 
pressors and  saved  its  people,  after  which,  yielding 
to  the  universal  request,  I  have  fixed  the  seat  of 
the  Empire  at  Peking.  Crowned  with  the  bless- 
ings of  Heaven,  I  announce  that  I  have  ascended 
the  throne  and  have  named  my  dynasty  Ta  Tsing, 
and  my  reign  Shun-chi.  I  beg  respectfully  that 
Heaven  and  Earth  may  aid  me  to  put  an  end  to 
the  misfortunes  of  my  country." 


NOTES 

1.  "The  Middle  Kingdom,"  II  427. 

2.  Staunton's  Embassy,  I  5-12. 

3.  She  afterwards  recovered  and  married  "a  mag- 
nate of  the  court  whom  she  had  long  loved"  (Boul- 


183 


APPENDIX  A 
DYNASTIC  TABLE 

1.  Age  of  Fable. 
P'an  Ku 

The  Heaven  Kings   (12  brothers). 
The  Earth  Kings   (11   brothers). 
The  Man  Kings   (9  brothers). 
The  Periods  of  Ascent. 

2.  Age  of  the  Five  Rulers. 

Fu-hsi  B.  C.  2852 

Shen-nung  B.  C.  2737 

Hwang-ti  B.  C.  2697 

Shao  hao  B.  C.  2597 

Chwan  hii  B.C.  2513 

Ti  kuh  B.  C.  2435 

Ti  chih  B.  C.  2365 

Yao  B.  C.  2356 

Shun  B.  C.  2255 

3.  The  Hia  Dynasty. 

Yu  B.C.  2205 

K'i  B.  C.  2197 

T'ai  K'ang  B.  C.  2188 

Chung  K'ang  B.  C.  2159 

Siang  B.  C.  2146 

(Forty  years'  interregnum) 

Shao   K'ang  B.  C.  2079 

Ch'u  B.  C.  2057 

Hwai  B.  C.  2040 

Mang  B.C.  2014 
185 


186  APPENDIX  A 


Sieli 

B.C. 

1996 

Pu  Kiang 

B.C. 

1980 

Kiung 

B.C. 

1921 

Kin 

B.C. 

1900 

K'ung  Kia 

B.C. 

1879 

Kao 

B.C. 

1848 

Fa 

B.C. 

1837 

Kie  Kwei 

B.C. 

1818 

The  Shang  (Yin)  Dynasty. 

T'ang,   the   Completer 

B.C. 

1766 

T'ai  Kia 

B.C. 

1753 

Yu  ting 

B.C. 

1720 

T'ai  keng 

B.C. 

1691 

Siao  kia 

B.C. 

1666 

Yung  ki 

B.C. 

1649 

T'ai  mow 

B.C. 

1637 

Chung  ting 

B.C. 

1562 

Wai  jen 

B.C. 

1549 

Ho  tan  kia 

B.C. 

1534 

Tsu  yih 

B.C. 

1525 

Tsu  sin 

B.C. 

1506 

Yii  kia 

B.C. 

1490 

Tsu  ting 

B.C. 

1465 

Nan  keng 

B.C. 

1433 

Yang  kia 

B.C. 

1408 

P'an  keng 

B.C. 

1401 

Siao  sin 

B.C. 

1373 

Siao  yih 

B.C. 

1352 

Wu  ting 

B.C. 

1324 

Tsu  keng 

B.C. 

1265 

Tsu  kia 

B.C. 

1258 

Lin  sin 

B.C. 

1225 

Keng  ting 

B.C. 

1219 

DYNASTIC  TABLE  187 

Wu  yih  B.C.  1198 

T'ai  ting  B.  C.  1194 

Ti  yih  B.C.  1191 

Chou  sin  B.  C.  1154 
5.     The  Chou  Dynasty. 

Wu  wang  B.C.  1122 

Cheng  wang  B.C.   1115 

K'ang  wang  B.  C.   1078 

Chao  wang  B.  C.   1052 

Muh  wang  B.  C.   1001 

Kung  wang  B.  C.     946 

I  wang  B.  C.     934 

Hiao  wang  B.  C.     909 

I  wang  B.  C.     894 

Li   wang  B.  C.     878 

Suan  wang  B.  C.     827 

Yew  wang  B.  C.     781 

Ping   wang  B.C.     770 

Hwan  wang  B.  C.     719 

Chwang  wang  B.  C.     696 

Hi  wang  B.  C.     681 

Hwei  wang  B.  C.     676 

Siang  wang  B.  C.     651 

K'ing  wang  B.  C.     618 

K'wang  wang  B.  C.     612 

Ting  wang  B.  C.     606 

Kien  wang  B.  C.     585 

Ling   wang  B.  C.     571 

King  wamg  B.  C.     544 

King  wang  B.  C.     519 

Yuan  wang  B.  C.     475 

Cheng  ting  wang  B.  C.     468 

K'ao  wang  B.  C.     440 


188  APPENDIX  A 


Wei  lieh  wang 

B.C. 

425 

Ngan  wang 

B.C. 

401 

Lieh  wang 

B.C. 

375 

Hien  wang 

B.C. 

368 

Shen  tsing  wang 

B.C. 

320 

Nan  wang 

B.C. 

314 

Tung  chou  kun 

B.C. 

255 

6.      The  Tsin  Dynasty. 

Chwan  siang  wang 

B.C. 

249 

Shih  hwang  ti 

B.C. 

221 

Erh  shih  hwang  ti 

B.C. 

209 

7.      The  Han  Dynasty. 

Kao  tsu 

B.C. 

202 

Hwei  ti 

B.C. 

194 

Lii  how 

B.C. 

187 

Wen  ti 

B.C. 

179 

King  ti 

B.C. 

156 

Wu-ti 

B.C. 

140 

Chao-ti 

B.C. 

86 

Suan  ti 

B.C. 

73 

Yuan  ti 

B.C. 

48 

Ch'eng  ti 

B.C. 

32 

Ngai  ti 

B.C. 

6 

Ping  ti 

A.  D. 

1 

Ju  tz  ying 

A.  D. 

6 

Wang  mang 

A.  D. 

9 

Hwai  yamg  wang 

A.  D. 

23 

Kwang  wu  ti 

A.  D. 

25 

Ming  ti 

A.D. 

58 

Chang  ti 

A.D. 

76 

Ho  ti 

A.  D. 

89 

Shang  ti 

A.D. 

106 

Ngan  ti 

A.  D. 

107 

DYNASTIC  TABLE  189 

Shun  ti  A.  D.  126 

Ch'ung  ti  A.  D.  145 

Chih  ti  A.  D.  146 

Hwan  ti  A.  D.  147 

Ling  ti  A.  D.  168 

Hien  ti  A.  D.  190 

8.  The  Three  Kingdoms. 

(1)  The  Minor  Han  Dynasty. 

Chao  Lieh  ti  A.  D.  221 

How  Chu  A.  D.  223 

(2)  The  Wei  Dynasty. 

Wen  ti  A.  D.  220 

Ming  ti  A.  D.  227 

Fei  ti  A.  D.  240 

Shao  ti  A.  D.  254 

Yuan  ti                             .  .  A.  D.  260 

(3)  The  Wu  Dynasty. 

T'a  ti  A.  D.  222 

Fei  ti  A.  D.  252 

King  ti  A.  D.  258 

Mo  ti  A.  D.  264 

9.  The   Western  Tsin  Dynasty. 

Wu  ti  A.  D.  265 

Hwei  ti  A.  D.  290 

Hwai  ti  A.  D.  307 

Min  ti  A.  D.  313 
10.     The  Eastern  Tsin  Dynasty. 

Yuan  ti  A.  D.  317 

Ming  ti  A.  D.  323 

Ch'eng  ti  A.  D.  326 

K'ang  ti  A.  D.  343 

Muh  ti  A.  D.  345 

Ngai  ti  A.  D.  362 


190  APPENDIX  A 


11, 


12. 


13. 


14. 


Ti  yih 

A.  D. 

366 

Kien  wen  ti 

A.  D. 

371 

Hiao  wu  ti 

A.  D. 

373 

Ngan  ti 

A.  D. 

397 

Kung  ti 

A.  D. 

419 

Earlier  Sung  Dynasty. 

Wu  ti 

A.  D. 

420 

Shao  ti 

A.  D. 

423 

Ying  yang  wang 

A.  D. 

423 

Wen  ti 

A.  D. 

424 

Hiao  wu  ti 

A.  D. 

454 

Fei  ti 

A.  D. 

465 

Ming  ti 

A.  D. 

465 

Ts'ang  wu  wang 

A.  D. 

473 

Chu  li 

A.  D. 

473 

Shun  ti 

A.  D. 

477 

The  Ts'i  Dynasty. 

Kao  ti 

A.  D. 

479 

Wu  ti 

A.D. 

483 

Yii  lin  wang 

A.  D. 

494 

Hai  ling  wang 

A.  D. 

494 

Ming  ti 

A.D. 

494 

Tung  hwen  how 

A.D. 

499 

Ho  ti 

A.D. 

501 

The  Liang  Dynasty. 

Wu  ti 

A.D. 

502 

Kien  wen  ti 

A.  D. 

550 

Yii  chang  wang 

A.  D. 

551 

Yuan  ti 

A.D. 

552 

Cheng  yang  how 

A.D. 

555 

King  ti 

A.  D. 

555 

The  Suy  Dynasty. 

Wen  ti 

A.  D. 

581 

DYNASTIC  TABLE  191 

Yang  ti  A.  D.  605 

Kung  ti  yew  A.  D.  617 

Kung  ti  t'ung  A.  D.  618 

15.  The  Tang  Dynasty. 

Kao  tsu   "  A.  D.  618 

T'ai  tsung  A.  D.  627 

Kao  tsung  A.  D.  650 

Chung  tsung  A.  D.  684 

Wu  how  A.  D.  684 

Jui  tsung  A.  D.  710 

Huan  tsung  A.  D.  713 

Su  tsung  A.  D.  756 

Tai  tsung  A.  D.  763 

Te  tsung  A.  D.  780 

Shun  tsung  A.  D.  805 

Hien  tsung  A.  D.  806 

Mu  tsung  A.  D.  821 

King  tsung  A.  D.  825 

Wen  tsung  A.  D.  827 

Wu  tsung  A.  D.  841 

Siian  tsung  A.  D.  847 

I  tsung  A.  D.  860 

Hi  tsung  A.  D.  874 

Chao  tsung  A.  D.  889 

Chao  siian  ti  A.  D.  905 

16.  The  Five  Little  Dynasties. 

(1)  The  Later  Liang. 

T'ai  tsu  A.  D.  907 

Mo  ti  A.  D.  915 

(2)  The  Later  Tang. 

Chwang  tsung  A.  D.  923 

Ming  tsung  A.  D.  926 

Min  ti  A.  D.  934 


192 


APPENDIX  A 


Fei  ti  A.  D.     934 

(3)  The  Later  Tsin. 
Kao  tsu 

Ts'i  wang 

(4)  The  Later  Han. 
Kao  tsu 

Yin  ti 

(5)  The  Later  Chou. 
T'ai  tsu 

Shih  tsung 

Kung  ti 
17-     The  Sung  Dynasty. 

T'ai  tsu 

T'ai  tsung 

Chen  tsung 

Jen  tsung 

Ying  tsung 

Chen  tsung 

Cheh  tsung 

Hwei  tsung 

K'in  tsung 

(Southern  Sung) 

Kao  tsung 

Hiao  tsung 

Kwang  tsung 

Ning  tsung 

Li  tsung 

Tu  tsung 

Kung  ti 

Twan  tsung 

Ti  ping 
18.     Yuan  (Mongol)  Dynasty. 

She  tsu  (Kublai  Khan)  A.  D.   1260 


A.  D. 

936 

A.  D. 

943 

A.  D. 

947 

A.  D. 

948 

A.  D. 

951 

A.  D. 

954 

A.  Di. 

960 

A.  D. 

960 

A.  D. 

976 

A.  D. 

998 

A.  D. 

1023 

A.  D. 

1064 

A.  D. 

1068 

A.  D. 

1086 

A.  D. 

1101 

A.D. 

1126 

A.  D. 

1127 

A.  D. 

1163 

A.D. 

1190 

A.D. 

1195 

A.  D. 

1225 

A.  D. 

1265 

A.D. 

1275 

A.D. 

1276 

A.D. 

1278 

DYNASTIC  TABLE 


Cheng  tsung 
Wu  tsung 
Jen  tsung 
Ying  tsung 
Tai  ting  ti 
Ming   tsung 
Wen  ti 
Shun  ti 

19.      The  Ming  Dynasty. 
T'ai  tsu 
Hwei  ti 
Ch'eng  tsu 
Jen  tsung 
Suan  tsung 
Ying  tsung 
Tai  tsung 

Ying  tsung    (resumed) 
Hien  tsung 
Hiao  tsung 
Wu  tsung 
She  tsung 
Muh   tsung 
Shen  tsung 
Kwang  tsung 
Hi  tsung 
Chwang  lieh  ti 


A.  D. 
A.D. 
A.  I>. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 

A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.  D. 
A.D. 
A.  D. 
A.  D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 
A.  D. 
A.D. 
A.  D. 
A.D. 
A.D. 


1294 
1308 
1312 
1321 
1324 
1329 
1330 
1333 

1368 
1399 
1403 
1425 
1426 
1436 
1450 
1457 
1465 
1488 
1506 
1522 
1567 
1573 
1620 
1621 
1628 


APPENDIX  B 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Out  of  the  many  hundreds  of  interesting  books  on 
China,  the  following  may  be  especially  recommended: 

HISTORICAL 

"The    Middle    Kingdom"     (very    comprehen- 
sive), S.  Wells  Williams  1907 
"Chine/'  par  G.   Pauthier  1837 
"Melanges    Asiatiques"    and    "Nouveaux    Me- 
langes Asiatiques,"  Abel  Remusat              1825-1843 
"The  Ancient  History  of  China,"  Fr.  Hirth         1908 
"China"    (in  "Story  of  the  Nations"   series), 

Sir  R.  K.  Douglas  1912 

"A  Short  History  of  China,"  D.  C.  Boulger       1900 
"Early    Chinese    History,    Are    the    'Chinese 

Classics  Forged?'"  H.  J.  Allen  1906 

"A   Chinese   Biographical  Dictionary,"  H.   A. 

Giles 

"The  Chinese  Reader's  Manual,"  W.  F.  Mayers 
"Wang-ngan-shih  and  His  Reforms"   (in  Rus- 
sian), A.  J.  IvanofF  1909 
"Imperial  History  of  China,"  Rev.  J.  McGowan 

LITERATURE 

"The   Chinese    Classics,"    translated    by    Pro- 
fessor Legge 

194 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  195 

"A  History  of  Chinese  Literature/'  H.  A. 

Giles  1001 

"The  Chinese,  Their  Education,  Philosophy 
and  Letters,"  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin 

"The  Lore  of  Cathay,"  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin 

"Buddhist  Kingdoms  of  the  Western  World" 
(the  travels  of  Fa-hien,  Sung  and  Hiouen 
Tsang),  S.  Beal  1884 

"The  Travels  of  Fa-hien,"  translated  by 

Legge  (Oxford)  1886 

"Chwang-tsz"  (Taoist  philosopher),  F.  H. 

Balfour  1881 

"Chwang-tze,  Mystic,  Moralist  and  Social  Re- 
former," H.  A.  Giles  1888 

"Musings  of  a  Chinese  Mystic,"  L.  Giles  1906 

"The  Sayings  of  Lao-tsz,"  L.  Giles  1909 

RELIGION 

"Religion  in  China,"  J.  Edkins  1884 

"China  and   Religion,"  E.   H.  Parker  1905 

"The  Religions  of  China,"  J.   Legge  1880 

"Buddhism  as  a  Religion,"  H.  Hackmann  1910 

"Confucianism  and  Taoism,"  R.  K.  Douglas       1879 
"Chinese   Buddhism,   J.   Edkins  1893 

"Buddhism  in  China,"  S.  Beal 
"Christianity   in   China"    (the   Nestorian   tab- 
let), J.  Legge 

"Rex  Christus,"  A.  H.  Smith  1903 

"The  Religious  System  of  China,"  DeGroot 

LANGUAGE 

"The  Language  and  Literature  of  China" 
(two  lectures),  R.  K.  Douglas 


196  APPENDIX  B 

"Early  Chinese  Writing/'  F.  H.  Chalfant  1906 

"Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Chinese  Char- 
acters," J.  Edkins  1876 
"The    Structure    of    Chinese    Characters,"    J. 

Chalmers  1882 


"The  Chinese  Empire,"  the  Abbe  Hue  1855 

"The    Ruins    of    Desert    Cathay,"    M.    Aurel 

Stein  1912 

"Through  the  Yang-tsz  Gorges,"  A.  J.  Little 
"Travels   and  Researches  in  Western  China," 

E.  C.  Baber  1882 

"The  Travels  of  Marco  Polo,"  Yule  and  Cor- 

dier  1903 

"Through    Hidden   Shen-si,"   Francis   Nichols     1902 
"From  Peking  to  Mandalay,"  R.  F.  Johnston 


'China,  Its  History,  Arts  and  Literature"   (4 

volumes),   Capt.   Brinkley 
'A  Cycle  of  Cathay,"  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin 
'China,  New  and  Old,"  Archdeacon  Moule 
'Chinese  Characteristics,"  Arthur   H.   Smith        1897 
'Village  Life  in  China,"  Arthur  H.  Smith 
'The  Chinese,"  Sir  John  Davis  1844- 

'Gleanings  of  Fifty  Years  in  China,"  A.  J. 

Little 

'China,    Its    History,    Diplomacy    and    Com- 
merce," E.  H.  Parker  1901 
'Five    Thousand    Years   of   John    Chinaman," 
J.  Dyer  Ball                                                            1906 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  197 

"A  String  of  Chinese  Peach  Stones,"  W.  A. 

Cornaby  1895 

"A  Corner  of  Cathay,"  Adele  M.  Field 

"China  and  the  Chinese"  (Lectures  at  Colum- 
bia), H.  A.  Giles  1902 

"The  Chinese,"  J.  S.  Thomson 

"China,  the  Long-Lived  Empire,"  Eliza  Scid- 
more 

"China,  Its  Marvel  and  Mystery"  (for  its  il- 
lustrations in  water-color),  T.  Hodgson 
Liddell 

"The  Civilization  of  China,"  H.  A.  Giles 

MODERN    CHINA 

Among   the    best   books    on   conditions    in    modern 
China  are  the  following: 

"The   Real   Chinese  Question,"   Chester   Hoi- 
combe  1900 
"Changing    China,"    the    Rev.    Lord    William 

Gascoigne-Cecil 

"New  Forces  in  Old  China,"  A.  J.  Brown  1904 

"Problems  of  the  Far  East,"  Lord  Curzon          1894 
"The  New  Far  East,"  A.  Diosy  1900 

"China  in  Transformation,"  A.  R.  Colquhoun     1898 
"The  Awakening  of  China,"  W.  A.  P.  Martin     1907 
"China  and  America   To-day,"  A.   H.   Smith 
"China's    Only    Hope,"    the    Viceroy    Chang- 

chih-tung 
"With  the  Empress   Dowager,"   Katherine  A. 

Carl 

"Court  Life  in  China,"  Isaac  Taylor  Head- 
land 


198  APPENDIX  B 

"China  under  the  Empress  Dowager,"   Bland 

and   Backhouse  1911 

"Letters   from  China,"   Mrs.   Conger  1909 

"These  from  the  Land  of  Sinim,"  Sir  Robert 

Hart  1901 


INDEX 


INDEX 


A. 

A-fong-kung  (palace),  82. 

An-ki-sheng  (Taoist  pat- 
riarch), 85. 

Art  (Chinese),  4; 
(T'ang),  132,  (Sung), 

IS*- 

August       Periods        (the 

three),  21. 

B. 

Bayan  (general),  157. 
Boards  (the  Six),  48. 
Bodhidharma  (Buddhist 

patriarch),  115. 
Book  of  Han,  100. 
Buddhism     ('Introduction 

of),   loiff. 
Burning  of  the  Books,  82. 

C. 

Carp   .(fish),   77n. 

Carpini  (Franciscan  trav- 
eler), 3,  164. 

Cathay,  9. 

Chang-an    (capital),    103. 

Chang-chih-ho  (philos- 
opher), 131. 

Chang-fei   (soldier),  104. 

Chang  Kien  (Han  gen- 
eral), 92. 


Chang  Kiu  Ling  (states- 
man), 125. 
Chang     Kwa      (soldier), 

*45- 

Chang    Kwun     (soldier), 

145- 

Chang  she  kieh  (gen- 
eral), 146. 

Chang  Sun  (wife  of  T'ai 
Tsung),  121. 

Chang  tao  ling  (Taoist 
pope),  64, 

Chao  Kao,  87. 

Chaowang,       (Emperor), 

49- 
Cheh    kiang     (province), 

12. 
Cheh   Tsung    (Emperor), 

141. 
Ch'eng   hwa    (Emperor), 

173- 
Ch'eng  t'ang    (Emperor), 

36,  37- 
Cheng   tung    (Emperor), 

173- 
Cheng  wang    (Emperor), 

49- 

Chia  yi    (poet),  98. 
Chiang    siang    wang     (I 

jin) — (Emperor),  78. 
Chili  li   (province),   n. 
Chou   (Duke  of),  46. 
Chou  (dynasty),  43ff,  s8ff. 
Chou  li   (book  of  Chou), 

47- 


202 


Chou-sin  (Shang  Em- 
peror), 39. 

Christian  missions  (Nes- 
torian),  119;  (Francis- 
can), 163;  (Jesuit),  177. 

Chu  ko  Hang  (states- 
man), 104. 

Chu  yuan   (minister),  75. 

Chu  yuan  chung  (first 
Ming  sovereign),  162. 

Chuang  (Prince  of  Ch'u), 
60. 

Ch'un  Tsiu  (Spring  and 
Autumn  Classic),  56, 
70. 

Chung  hwa  (The  Middle 
Flower),  9. 

Chung  k'ang   (Emperor), 

35- 

Chung  kwoh  (The  Mid- 
dle Kingdom),  9. 

Chung  tsung  (Emperor), 
124. 

Chung  tu  (capital),  143. 

Chung  yung  (Classic  of 
the  Mean),  70. 

Chwang  tsze  (philos- 
opher), 63,  73. 

Classics   (Confucian),  69. 

Columbus  (voyage  of),  4. 

Commerce      (under      the 

^  T'ang   dynasty),    132. 

Confucius,  64ff. 

D. 

Degrees,  in. 

Drama  (in  China),  164. 

E. 
Earth  (Reign  of),  21. 


Eastern    Han    (dynasty), 

100. 

"Elixir  Vitse,"  84. 
Encyclopaedias,  172. 

F. 

Fa-hien      (Buddhist     pil- 

grim), 114. 

Five  King  (Classics),  69. 
Five  Leaders,  58ff. 
Five      Little      Dynasties, 


Five  Relations,  68. 
Five  Rulers,  24. 
Foreign     Religions     (un- 
der T'ang  dynasty),  119. 
Four  Shu   (Classics),  70. 
Fuh  kien   (province),   12. 
Fu-hsi  (culture  hero),  24. 
Fu  su  (T'sin  prince),  87. 

G. 

Government    (of   China), 

5- 
Grand  Canal,  in. 

H. 

Han    (dynasty),  8gff. 
Han    (sons  of),  8. 
Han  yu   (scholar),  131. 
Hang  chau  (capital),  143. 
Heaven  (Reign  of),  21. 
Henry  (Prince  of  Portu- 

gal), 3. 
Hexagrams     (the     sixty- 

four),  44,  46. 
Hia    (dynasty),    33. 
Hiang  yu   (general),  87. 


INDEX 


203 


Hideyoshi  (Japanese  gen- 
eral), 175. 

Hien  Ti  (Emperor),  lo.t. 

Hiouen  tsang  (Buddhist 
pilgrim),  114. 

Ho  ku  ping  (general), 
102. 

Ho  nan  (province),  12. 

Hsu  shen   (scholar),  98. 

Hu  nan  (province),  12. 

Hu  peh  (province),  12. 

Huan    wang    (Emperor), 

58. 

Huan  (Duke  of  Ts'i),  58. 
Hung     chi      (Emperor), 

173- 
Hung  hi  (Empejor),  173. 

Hung  \vu  (Emperor),  168. 
Hwang  ho  (river),  n. 
Hwang      ti       (legendary 

ruler),  26. 
Hwei    tsung    (Emperor), 

141. 

I. 

I  tsung    (Emperor),   128. 

I  yin,  38. 

"Isles  of  the  Blest,"  85. 

J- 

Japan,   158,    175. 

Jen  tsung  (Sung  Em- 
peror), 141. 

Jen  tsung  (Mongol  Em- 
peror), 162. 

Jenghiz  Khan,  143. 

Jesuits,   177. 

John  de  Monte  Corvino 
(Archbishop),  163. 


Jui      tsung      (Emperor), 

125- 

Jung  (barbarian  tribe), 
14. 

i 
K. 

Kan  suh   (province),  n. 
Kaidu  (rebel  against  Ku- 

blai),  162. 
Kai     feng    fu     (capital), 

143- 

Kao  tsu  (Emperor),  89. 

Kao  tsu  (T'ang  Em- 
peror), 117. 

Kao  tsung  (Emperor), 
122. 

Khan-baligh  (Cambaluc), 
1 60. 

Khitan  (Tatars),  142. 

Ki    lin    (fabled    animal), 

.151- 

Ki   tze    (minister),   41. 
Kia     tsung,     (Emperor), 

.175- 

Kiang  si  (province),  12. 
Kiang  su  (province),  12. 
Kie   (Emperor),  35. 
Kien     Wen     (Emperor), 

171. 

Kin   (Tatars),  141. 
Korea,  10,  123,  176. 
Ku  fu  hing  (city),  67. 
Kublai  Khan,  I55ff. 
Kung  (Dukes  of),  65. 
Kung   fu    (descendant   of 

Confucius'),   83. 
Kwan  tsze  (philosopher), 

58. 

Kwan  yu  (general),  104. 
Kwang  si  (province),  12. 


204 


INDEX 


Kwang   tung    (province), 

12. 

Kwei  chau  (province),  12. 
Kwoh      tsze      (general). 

1 68. 

L. 

Language   (the  Chinese), 

14- 

Lao-tsze,  61. 
Later     Chou      (dynasty), 

135- 

Later  Han  (dynasty),  135. 
Later    Liang     (dynasty), 

129,  135. 
Later    Tang     (dynasty), 

135- 
Later      Tsin      (dynasty), 

135- 
Lesser    Seal    (character), 

88. 
Li    (son    of    Confucius), 

66. 
Li    ki     (Book    of    Rites, 

Classic),   70. 
Li-chi-min     (T'ai    Tsung, 

Emperor),   118. 
Li-fang      (Indian      Bud- 
dhist), 1 02. 

Li  kwang  (general),  92. 
Li  kwang  li  (general),  92. 
Li    lung  mien    (painter), 

.152- 

Li  po  (poet),  129. 
Li  sin  (general),  81. 
Li  sze  (scholar),  83. 
Li  tsze  cheng  (rebel), 

1 80. 

Li  Wang  (Emperor),  51. 
Liao  (Tatars),  141. 


Liang   (dynasty),   109. 
Lie  tsze  (Yang  chu),  73. 
Lin  sin,  38. 
Literature    (Chinese),    4, 

112. 
Liu   Hsiu    (Eastern   Han 

Emperor),  101. 
Liu  pei  (general),  104. 
Liu     pang     (founder     of 

Han  dynasty),  89. 
Liu  Yu  (Emperor),  108. 
Lo-yang     (capital),     101, 

103. 
Lolos    (barbarian  tribes), 

14. 

Lu    (kingdom),   56. 
Lu  how  (Empress),  90. 
Lu    ngao    (Taoist    magi- 
cian), 85. 

Lu  Sin  fu  (general),  146. 
Lun    yu     (the    Analects, 

Classic),  70. 
Lung     king     (Emperor), 

177. 

M. 

Ma  Yuan  (warrior),  101. 
Magianism     (introduction 

of),  119. 
Man     (barbarian     tribe), 

14. 

Man  (Reign  of),  21. 
Manchuria,  10. 
Manchus,   178. 
Mandarins,  48,  57. 
Mangu  (khan),  145. 
Manichaean  (confession), 

1 20. 

Marco  Polo,   i55ff. 
Maxims     (of     Lao-tsze), 

62. 


INDEX 


205 


Mei  hi   (favourite),  35. 

Mencius,  71  ff. 

Mencius    (book    of),    70. 

Meng-ti  (Emperor),  102. 

Meng-tien  (Tsin  general), 
81. 

Miao-tsze  (barbarian 
tribe),  14. 

Milfoil  (the  Achillea),  27. 

Ming  (dynasty),  i68ff. 

Mongolia,  10. 

Mo-ti  (Micius,  philoso- 
pher), 73. 

Mu  (Duke  of  Tsin),  60. 

Muh     wang     (Emperor), 

50. 

Mohammadanism     (intro- 
duction  of),    119. 


N. 

Name  (of  China),  8,  80. 
Nan  King  (capital),  143. 
Nan  Wang  (Emperor), 

76. 

Nayan   (general),   162. 
Nest-builders     (legendary 

period),   24. 
Nestorian    (Christianity), 

119. 
Ngan-hwui       (province), 

12. 

Ngan-lo  (princess),  124. 
Ning    tsi     (philosopher), 

59- 

Northern  Sung  (dy- 
nasty), 108. 

Novel   (in  China),  165. 

Nurhachu  (Manchu 
chief),  178. 


O. 

Odes  (Book  of,  Classic), 

53- 

Ogdai,  144. 

Origins   (Chinese),   17. 

P. 

Pan   Chao   (literata),  99. 

Pan  ku  (scholar,  brother 
of  former),  100. 

P'an  ku  (legendary  cre- 
ator), 19. 

Pao  Sze,  55. 

Pandects  (of  Yung  lo), 
170. 

Paper  (use  of),  99. 

Paul  Sii  (Christian  con- 
vert), 178. 

Pe-king  (capital),  143, 
1 60. 

People   (Chinese),  5,  14. 

Periods  (three  august), 
21. 

Periods  (ten  of  ascent), 
21. 

Perestrello  (Raphael, 
Portuguese),  175. 

Pi-kan   (minister),  39. 

Pilgrims  (Buddhist), 
Ii3ff. 

Ping-ti   (Emperor),  97. 

P'ing    wang    (Emperor), 

55- 

Poetry    (Chinese),    I29ff. 
Polos  (the),  3. 
Population     (of     China), 

14,  16,  133. 
Portuguese    (arrival   of), 

174- 


206 


INDEX 


R. 

De  Rubruk  (Franciscan 
traveler),  3. 

Ricci  (Matteo,  Jesuit  mis- 
sionary), 177. 


S. 

Serica,  Sera,  Seres,  9. 

Seven  Sages  (of  Bam- 
boo Grove),  113. 

Seven  Scholars  (of  the 
Chien  An),  113. 

Shan-si    (province),   II. 

Shan-tung  (province),  12. 

Shang    (dynasty),    37. 

Sheep  (in  China),  18. 

Shen-nung  (legendary 
ruler),  26. 

Shen-si    (province),    n. 

Shih  hung  chao  (coun- 
selor), 135. 

Shi  King  (Book  of  Odes, 
Classic),  69. 

Shih  tsung  (Emperor), 
136. 

Shong-ti  (Supreme  Be- 
ing), 26. 

Shu  King  (Book  of  His- 
tory, Classic),  31,  69. 

Shun  (Emperor),  30. 

Shun-chi  (Manchu  Em- 
peror), 182. 

Shun-ti    (Emperor),    162. 

Shwo  wen  (work  on 
characters),  98. 

Siang  (Duke  of  Sung), 
58. 

Sianyang   (city),   145. 


Si  kiang  (west  River), 
ii. 

Si  ling  (lady  of,  wife  of 
Hwang-ti),  27. 

Si-ngan-fu  (Inscription), 
119. 

Si  wang  mu  (Royal  lady 
of  the  West),  50,  91. 

Southern  Sungs  (dy- 
nasty), 139. 

Su  she  (Taoist  magician), 

85- 

Su  ts'in    (statesman),  75. 

Su  wu  (ambassador),  92. 

Suan  ti    (Emperor),   173. 

Suanwang  (Emperor), 
52. 

Suh  tsung  (Emperor), 
126. 

Sui  jin  (Chinese  Prome- 
theus), 22. 

Sung    (dynasty),    I39ff. 

Sung   Philosophers,    151. 

Sung  (Buddhist  pilgrim), 
114. 

Suta  (general),  169. 

Suy  (dynasty),  no. 

Szechuen    (province),    12. 

Sze  hai  (name  of  China), 

9- 

Sze   ma   kiang    (historian 
and  statesman),  70,  150. 
Sze  ma  tsien  (historian), 
27,  32,  84,  94,  97. 

i 
T. 

T'a  ki  (favourite  of  Chou 

sin),  39. 
T'ai     Hiau     (the     Great 

Learning),  70. 


INDEX 


207 


T'ai     Kang      (Emperor), 

35- 

T'ai  Ping  (Princess),  124. 

T'ai  Tsu  (Emperor),  139. 

T'ai  Tsung  (T'ang  Em- 
peror), iiSff. 

T'ai  Tsung  (Sung  Em- 
peror), 140. 

T'ang    (dynasty),    117 fi. 

Taoism,  62. 

Tao-te-king  (Classic  of 
Taoism),  62. 

Tatar,   16. 

Teh  Tsung  (Emperor), 
126. 

Three  Kingdoms,  io6ff. 

Ti  Ping  (child  Emperor), 
146. 

Tibet,  10. 

Tien-ha  (name  of  China), 

9- 

Tih  (barbarian  tribe),  14. 

Timur  (Mongol  Em- 
peror), 162. 

Ting-wang  (Emperor), 
60. 

Tong-king,   112. 

Trigrams  (of  Fu-hsi),  32. 

Tsao-tsao   (general),  104. 

Tsi    (dynasty),   108. 

Tsin    (dynasty),   78ff. 

Tsin  shih  hwang  ti  (Em- 
peror), 79ff. 

Tsung  cheng  (Emperor), 
179. 

Tu  fu  (poet),  130. 

T'ung  (Prince),  112. 

Tung  cho  (general),  103. 

Tung    fang   so    (censor), 

91. 

Turkestan,  10. 


V. 


Valignani  (Jesuit  mis- 
sionary), 177. 

W. 

Wall   (the  Great),  81. 

Wang-an-shih  (statesman 
and  reformer),  146. 

Wang  chih  (Taoist  pat- 
riarch), 84. 

Wang  shih  chung  (min- 
ister), 112. 

Wang  Tsien  (Tsin  gen- 
eral), 81. 

Weddell  (English  cap- 
tain), 179. 

\Vei  How  (Empress), 
124. 

Wen  li   (Emperor),  177. 

Wen  ti    (Emperor),   in. 

Wen  tien  siang  (minis- 
ter), 158. 

Wen  wang  (Emperor), 
40,  44- 

Wen  (Duke  of  Tsin),  59. 

Western  Han  (dynasty), 
100. 

"Western  Tsin  (dynasty), 
107. 

Writing    (invention    of), 

25- 

Wu  How  (Empress),  123. 
Wu  san  kwei    (general), 

181. 

Wu-tao-tsz  (painter),  132. 
Wu    ti    (Han    Emperor), 

90. 
Wu     ti     (Western     Tsin 

Emperor),   107. 


208 


INDEX 


Wu  t'ing   (Emperor),  38. 

Wu  tsung  (Tang  Em- 
peror), 127. 

Wu  tsung  (Mongol  Em- 
peror), 162. 

Wu  wang  (Emperor),  45. 

Wu  yih   (Emperor),  38. 


X. 

Xavier      (St.      Francis), 
177. 


Y. 

Yang  chu    (philosopher), 

73- 
Yang    hsung    (literatus), 

99- 


Yang     kien     (Emperor), 

in. 

Yang  tsz  kiang,  u. 
Yang   kwei    fei    (favour- 

ite), 125,  134. 
Yang     yen      (reformer), 

126. 

Yao  (Emperor),  28. 
Yi   (barbarian  tribe),   14. 
Yi-king       (Book       of 

Changes,    Classic),    44, 

fr 

Yii  (Emperor),  33. 

Yu  kwang  (general),  169. 
Yu  wang  (Emperor),  54. 
Yuan  (dynasty),  145, 


Yuen  tsung    (Tang   Em- 

peror), 125. 

Yun-nan   (province),  12. 
Yung-lo   (Emperor),  170. 


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